Two For The Show
by SpongeAddict
Summary: "Origins" #2. The gang is threatened with an ultimatum: get involved with an extra-curricular activity, or no more mystery solving. Daphne convinces everyone to audition for the school musical. But angry seniors, romantic problems and the ghost of a vengeful actor could cause troubles that nobody counted on. Will the show go on? Shelma and Fraphne. Rated M . Complete.
1. Just Another Day

**Sponge: Welcome to the second part of the **_**Origin**_**s series! I hope you enjoy. Similarly to **_**One for the Money**_**, all chapter titles will be song titles, but they will be songs from the musical that the story revolves around. This story takes place about seven or eight months after **_**One for the Money **_**–**** in that story it was January, now we****'****re into August/September, when the new school year starts**_**. **_**Warning: some language. We****'****re still rated T for now, but the rating will change to M by chapter 5 or 6. There WILL be some slightly graphic romantic content in later chapters (you know, teens being teens), so please be sure to read the warnings in the beginning of each chapter so you know when to expect it, and in those cases, proceed with caution. I'd also like to apologize for my lack of knowledge about current high school things. It's been a while since I graduated, so all my memories, and thus references, are relatively archaic. Disclaimer: I don****'****t own any of the Scooby Doo characters. They belong to Cartoon Network, Warner Brothers, and Hanna-Barbera. Velma****'****s description of Pavlov and Mr. Atwood****'****s synopsis of the musical both come from Wikipedia.**

* * *

**Chapter 1: Just Another Day**

Shaggy Rogers sat on his front stoop, awaiting a psychedelic van to drive into his culdesac. Scooby Doo, his Great Dane, absentmindedly chomped the remains of his sardine-and-waffle breakfast. Every now and then, the dog would glance at his master, and Shaggy would grin back at him. Shaggy had never been one to look forward to school, but he was feeling more optimistic about this first day than any in the past. For one thing, it was his junior year of high school – the year he could finally stop taking PE and start taking electives he cared about, like art and graphic design. For another, this was the first year that he didn't have to take the school bus. He and his friends were now old enough to drive themselves to school. Well, he and Fred were in any case - they were both sixteen. Daphne was fifteen, and Velma was fourteen-and-a-half.

That was another thing Shaggy was looking forward to about school: his friends. Fred Jones, Daphne Blake, and Velma Dinkley. The four of them, plus Scooby, were all from extremely different walks of life – Fred was a handsome and clever yet scatter-brained jock, Daphne was a pretty and popular perfectionist, and Velma was a wry, sarcastic genius – yet they had all become friends the previous year when they discovered their shared love for solving mysteries. They had become inseparable after that first mystery they'd solved last winter and due to the toll it had taken on them stress-wise – particularly Shaggy – the principal had allowed Scooby to accompany them to school every day as an emotional support dog. This arrangement would continue this year. All in all, junior year was shaping up to be pretty good for Shaggy, despite the Ultimatum.

Ah, yes. The Ultimatum. Just thinking about it made Shaggy scowl.

The Ultimatum had been conceived due to the amount of time that the gang spent together. Throughout the rest of the winter, and the whole spring and summer, Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby had hung out every day, and stayed up texting and Skyping late into the night. Sometimes they paired off – Shaggy and Scooby lived together, of course, and Fred and Daphne had started dating in January – but mostly the five of them stayed together. In this fashion, they had stumbled across many more mysteries in their small town of Coolsville, Ohio, and they spent their spring and summer taking down monsters, always eventually revealed to be a guy in a mask. They'd started calling themselves "Mystery Incorporated," and they mostly conducted their business at the local library, where Velma had been volunteering for two and a half years. The gang had spent a blissful summer together, gathering clues and unmasking ne'er-do-wells. But just last night, the night before school started again, they had walked from the library to Shaggy's house for a quick bite, only to discover that all of their parents had congregated in Shaggy's living room.

"Hello, Norville," Shaggy's mother had greeted him. Shaggy winced. His mother only ever used his given name, and it always sounded so formal when she did. Shaggy was not a formal guy.

"And everyone," Shaggy's father, always the diplomat, had added.

The gang stood there, unmoving but for the furtive glances they gave each other. Scooby whined nervously.

"Why don't you all have a seat?" Shaggy's dad suggested. Four chairs from the kitchen had been relocated to the living room, as the adults were all sitting on the sofas and love seats. Without a word, Shaggy and his friends sat down. Scooby sat on the floor, his chin on Shaggy's knee. Fred and Daphne held hands.

Shaggy noticed the Blakes grimace. For some reason he couldn't fathom, Daphne's parents didn't approve of Fred. But Fred was kind and (sometimes) clever, as well as the son of the mayor, so Shaggy couldn't figure out why Daphne's parents were against their relationship. Was it because his head was always in the clouds? _Like, not the time, man_, Shaggy thought to himself. He could ponder the mysteries of Fred and Daphne's relationship another time. Right now, all the adults looked at him and his friends very seriously, as though about to start an intervention.

"Let's get straight to the point," Shaggy's mother began. "We've noticed you all have been spending quite a lot of time together."

"Not that that's a bad thing, necessarily," Velma's mother cut in. "We're so glad you all have become friends."

"Indeed," said Mayor Jones. "It's important to foster this sort of comradery in the community." Shaggy caught Fred roll his eyes at his father's mayoral-speak.

"However," said Mrs. Blake. "We do have some…concerns."

"What kind of concerns?" Daphne was the first of the gang to speak up. Her tone was polite, but the fire in her eyes suggested to Shaggy that this was not the first time she'd disagreed with her parents.

"Well," said Mr. Blake. "It's just…you're spending so much time together. Don't you get…well, bored of each other?"

"Not at all," said Daphne coolly. "I love hanging out with Fred, Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby. They're my best friends."

That Daphne had used the term "best friend" to describe him emboldened Shaggy to speak up. "Like, yeah," he agreed. "They're awesome. And they're like, totally good influences." He made eye contact with his mother as he said this, and she frowned. In California, where they had lived prior to their move to Coolsville, Shaggy had fallen in with a rough crowd and as a result, had suffered from a mild marijuana addiction. Now that CBD oil was legal in most states, of course, this wasn't quite the issue it had been, but his mother still disapproved of the habit, even though Shaggy had long since kicked it. This, of course, was mostly due to his wanting to win favor in the eyes of the straight-laced Velma, but Shaggy had barely wanted to admit this to himself, let alone anyone else.

Velma herself spoke then. "It's true. In spite of the mysteries, we've stayed out of trouble all summer."

"Velma, dear, you got detention last semester." Her father sounded pained to bring it up. Mrs. Dinkley even shuddered.

Velma rolled her eyes. "Only because of that Neanderthal Maureen Fischer. It didn't have anything to do with my friends."

Actually, it sort of had. Maureen Fischer had been antagonizing the gang that day, and Velma stood up for them. Mostly she'd been standing up for Shaggy, a thought that still made his heart thump when he remembered it. But Shaggy wasn't about to bring that up.

"In any case." Shaggy's mother was back at the helm now. "Norville, you are about to go into your junior year of high school. This is the year that colleges look at most closely at your transcript."

"Yes," the mayor agreed. "And due to this…'mystery phase' you kids are going through" (Shaggy noticed Fred's mouth clamp into a thin, firm line) "we're concerned that you'll be neglecting your studies."

"Dad." Fred unclenched his jaw and spoke normally. "The school year hasn't even started yet."

"And our grades are fine," Velma added. "Excellent even, for some of us." Shaggy bit back a smile. It was true that they all had decent grades on their report cards from last year, but Velma and Daphne were the only ones who achieved straight-A's.

"It's less about grades, and more about extracurricular activities," Mr. Dinkley said. "Which is another thing colleges will be looking at. What extracurriculars were you all involved in last year?"

"You know this, Dad," Velma sighed. "Science club, history club, academic decathlon, Mathletes…"

"Yes, yes, I know darling, you're very bright," Mrs. Dinkley interrupted. Shaggy noticed Daphne, Fred, and Scooby all trying not to grin now too. "What about the rest of you?"

"I played football in the fall," Fred swallowed his laughter to answer Mrs. Dinkley's question. "And baseball in the spring." Mrs. Dinkley looked at the rest of the group in turn.

"I was in the school musical last year," Daphne spoke up.

"Like, I ran track," Shaggy replied. "And I was in the art club."

Scooby gave Mrs. Dinkley a dubious expression when her gaze landed on him.

"Rye'm a rog," he said.

A giggle escaped from Velma's lips. That set everyone off, and soon the whole gang was doubled over with laughter while the adults scowled at them.

"And what about this year?" Mrs. Rogers called over the cacophony. "What extracurriculars are you planning to do this year?" Everyone stopped laughing immediately. The truth was, the gang predicted they'd be so busy trying to solve mysteries, they wouldn't have time for any of their old after-school activities. No one said anything, and the silence spoke for itself.

"Norville, we're giving you an ultimatum," Mrs. Rogers continued, now that she had everyone's attention. Shaggy's spine stiffened. "Either get involved with some after-school activity this fall, or you can kiss mystery-solving goodbye."

Shaggy's jaw dropped.

"That goes for you too, Velma," the Dinkleys said.

"And you, Daphne."

"And you, Fred."

The uproar was instantaneous. All five of them were on their feet, arguing with their parents, Scooby barking along just to make noise and stand in solidarity with his friends.

"Enough!" Mrs. Rogers exclaimed. She shot to a standing position as well and fixed them all with such a terrifying stare that they immediately sank back to their chairs. She sat down too, once everything was silent.

"We just want you kids to be well-rounded," Shaggy's father finally spoke again. "It doesn't mean we want you to stop being friends. We just…well, we're worried about your futures. There will come a time when you have to go your separate ways, you know. Whether it's college, or the work force, or something else. We just want you to be well-adjusted when that time comes."

Shaggy and his friends had looked at each other worriedly after this. Obviously, there wasn't a force on this earth that could separate him from Scooby Doo. But he didn't want to imagine his future if Fred, Daphne, and Velma weren't a part of it.

x.X.x

So already, his good mood was tainted this morning by the Ultimatum. Shaggy groaned, resting his elbows on his knees, and put his head in his hands. Scooby nudged him with his nose.

"Rinking rabout rhe Rultimatum?"

"Like of course I'm thinking about the Ultimatum," Shaggy sighed. "I like, have no idea what to do. The gang is the best thing that's ever happened to us. And we like, love solving mysteries." This, oddly enough, was completely true. Even though Shaggy and Scooby had never been more terrified than last winter, when they believed a mythical Wendigo was stalking them in the woods behind their house, the thrill of solving the mystery and unmasking the disgruntled real estate agent behind it all had been a better high than he'd ever experienced. There was nothing like the rush of putting the pieces of a mystery together to make them fit into an explanation that made sense. Like a future without the gang, Shaggy couldn't imagine a life where he wasn't solving mysteries alongside them.

"Raybe Reddie rill rave a ridea?" Scooby jerked his head up to the mouth of the culdesac, where the psychedelic van finally made an appearance. Shaggy's heart swelled at the sight of it. The gang had dubbed it "The Mystery Machine" at the end of their inaugural case, and Shaggy had gifted it to Fred for his birthday back in January. Though the van technically belonged to Shaggy (the title was in his name), Fred had been the first to drive it, and enjoyed driving more than anyone. And Fred was kind of the de facto leader of the gang anyway, so it made the most sense for him to have it.

Scooby had already raced ahead to meet the van in the driveway, and Shaggy hurried after him. He slid open the door and was met with the faces of his friends.

They greeted each other with exclamations and back slaps and one-armed hugs, as though they hadn't just seen each other the previous day. Scooby licked the faces of Fred, Daphne, and Velma, and they laughed and good-naturedly wiped away the saliva.

"So I was thinking about the Ultimatum," Fred said as Shaggy shut the door behind him and the van sped off for Coolsville High.

Everyone in the van groaned.

"Freddie, please," Velma sighed. "Let's not ruin junior year already."

"Like yeah, man," Shaggy agreed, digging a bag of chips out of his backpack to share with Scooby. "I like, just stopped thinking about it."

"No, no, guys, hear me out!" Fred continued. "What if we create our own club? The Mystery Solver's Club! That way, we can keep solving mysteries, AND make our parents happy."

There was a brief silence in the van.

"It's a great idea…" Daphne hedged. "But I don't think they're going to go for it, babe." Ever since Daphne and Fred had made their relationship "official," they had taken to calling each other "babe." It was the only thing that was annoying about hanging out with them.

"Yeah, Fred," Velma said. "I think the point of the Ultimatum is for us to find something that interests us other than solving mysteries."

Fred snorted. "Yeah, good luck with that."

They had arrived at school, and piled out of the car. On their way from the student parking lot to the front entrance, they waved and called hello to classmates that they hadn't seen since last term.

"Hey, Mystery Inc.!"

The gang had entered the building and turned at the familiar New York-accented voice, to find their friend Tony Moretti striding toward them. They grinned as he approached and exchanged hellos with him. Tony fist-bumped Fred and Shaggy, hugged Daphne and Velma, and scratched Scooby behind the ears.

"Good summer, Tony?" Velma asked. Shaggy tried to distract himself by looking anywhere but at the two of them. Apparently back in ninth grade, the two had dated, and this bothered Shaggy for reasons he wasn't quite ready to admit to himself.

Tony shrugged. "Yeah, I worked the whole time, though." Tony's family owned the best Italian restaurant in Coolsville. Daphne and Fred had gone there on their first "official" date after Fred's birthday last winter. "How about you? Did your sister have the baby?"

A brilliant smile lit up Velma's face. Velma had two sisters: a younger one named Madelyn, who'd once had a crush on Shaggy (though she'd quickly gotten over it), and an older one named Dottie who'd been pregnant when Shaggy had first met her. The baby had arrived in July, and Velma was over the moon to be an aunt. "Yes, and she's amazing. I haven't met her yet, of course, because Dottie and Bill are in Seattle now. But I've Skyped with them all a few times, including the day the baby was born. And I think they'll be coming to visit during winter break. She just turned one month old last Wednesday. Do you want to see some pictures?"

"Hell yeah!" Tony grinned, coming around next to Velma to see her phone. Even though the gang had seen all these pictures already (they'd also been there the day the baby had been born and Velma had Skyped with Dottie), they all crowded around to look, too. Velma glowed as she scrolled through the pictures and everyone oohed and ahhed over the tiny baby.

"What's her name?" asked Tony.

"Lorelei," Velma replied. "Lorelei Dinkley Benson." They reached the end of the camera roll then, and Velma put her phone in her school bag.

"Hey," Tony said. "Do you all have your schedules with you? I wanna see if we have any classes together."

Everyone took out their timetables and compared them. Shaggy already knew which classes he shared with his friends. They had the same study hall period, and were in their same homeroom, which didn't change from year to year, but those the only class periods they all had in common. Because they were juniors, and no longer required to enroll in PE, they were all taking different electives. Shaggy was in art, Daphne was in drama, Fred, who had been elected the junior class representative again, was taking student government (or SGA), and Velma, who had played the piano for years, was taking chamber band. All the AP classes were open to them this year too, and while Shaggy and Fred had each placed in a class or two (English and Spanish for Shaggy, Physics and French for Fred), Velma's schedule was full of AP classes. Daphne was taking mostly AP classes as well, except for geometry and physics. She and Shaggy had discovered they had that class together, and had decided to be lab partners. She and Fred had AP French together, and she and Velma were together in AP US History (affectionately dubbed APUSH by the students). Fred was taking regular US history and geometry with Shaggy. Shaggy and Velma were together in AP English and AP Spanish. Scooby, of course, was with Shaggy in every class.

"Hey Dinks, Jonsey, cool!" Shaggy perked up at Tony's nicknames for Velma and Fred respectively. "Looks like we're all in AP Physics together." He looked at Velma. "Wanna be lab partners?"

"Sure Tony, sounds good." Velma smiled at him and Shaggy looked away, burning with embarrassment and frustration.

"Rogers, looks like we're keeping up our history streak. No cheatin' off my tests though." Tony smiled at Shaggy, and Shaggy found it hard not to smile back. They'd sat next to each other in World History as sophomores, and Tony had been integral to Shaggy's acclimation last year. Honestly, Shaggy quite liked Tony, even if he was jealous of his relationship with Velma.

Shaggy froze as he finally put a name to this feeling. Jealousy? That was…unexpected.

"I gotta head over to the main office," Fred said. As the junior class representative, Fred was in charge of making the morning announcements for the eleventh grade.

"See you in homeroom, Freddie," Daphne said, standing on her toes. Fred leaned down to kiss her.

"Get a room you two," Tony joked with a grin. Daphne and Fred broke apart, embarrassed. "See you later," Tony called over his shoulder as he headed to his own homeroom. Fred left for the main office while Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby went to Mr. Aiken's classroom.

"Good morning Ms. Blake, Ms. Dinkley, Mr. Rogers," Mr. Aiken greeted them all as they arrived. "And Mr. …Doo."

"Rood rorning," Scooby replied politely. Mr. Aiken had never quite gotten used to having Scooby in homeroom last semester, but he tried his hardest to make him feel included.

"Did you have a good summer, Mr. Aiken?" Velma asked. She still felt a little bad about what happened last winter, when she, Shaggy, and Scooby has broken into his house and accused him of being a counterfeiter. Mr. Aiken had long since forgiven them, but Shaggy, Velma, and Scooby all felt twinges of guilt about it every now and then.

"It was a good summer, thank you for asking. My wife and I went to the beach. It was lovely." He appraised them all with a pleased gaze. "I read in the paper about the boat hijacking mystery you solved this summer. Well done."

"Thank you," Daphne replied, nodding humbly along with the others. They all headed to their seats and didn't have to wait long before the first bell rang and the morning announcements began.

The representative from the freshman class went first, followed by the sophomore class announcements. Fred's voice came third.

"Good morning Coolsville High, and happy first day of school!" His voice sounded tinny through the intercom. "This is Fred Jones, your junior class representative, ready to make this the best year yet. A reminder to all juniors that homeroom this year will be all about college prep, so please see your guidance counselors if you have any questions. Also, tryouts for JV and varsity teams will occur next week for football, men's volleyball, and men's cross country. The following week will be tryouts for JV and varsity field hockey, women's cross country, and women's volleyball. Please see the athletic director, Coach Warren, or any of the coaches if you have questions. Finally, after-school clubs and activities will be holding interest meetings today after school, so stick around if you want to beef up your extracurriculars on your college resumes."

The mention of extracurriculars made Shaggy's stomach clench again as he remembered the Ultimatum. One look at the girls let him know they felt the same way.

Scooby looked at each of his human companions concernedly. He had no idea how he could possibly help when they were feeling so distressed.

It didn't help that as soon as Fred entered the room and sat down, Mr. Aiken immediately launched into a speech about the importance of college entrance exams like the SATs and the ACTs. They spent the next 20 minutes going over SAT prep words. It was a blessed moment when the bell finally rang.

x.X.x

Besides a brief reprieve during lunch, Shaggy felt as though reminders of college and the Ultimatum followed him everywhere. His AP classes especially pushed the importance of studying and doing well on exams. Both of those classes he shared with Velma, and they rolled their eyes at each other any time a teacher so much as hinted at the AP tests at the end of the year.

"Like I can't believe that this morning, I was actually excited to go back to school," Shaggy sighed to Scooby as they waved goodbye to Velma after AP Spanish and headed down the hall to Art, their seventh-period elective.

"Rye roe," Scooby agreed, rolling his eyes. He wasn't even enrolled in classes and he felt as though his brain would fall out of his ears from information overload.

Shaggy was able to find respite in art class, until midway through the period when his phone buzzed in his pocket with a text. He immediately tensed up. The teacher, Mrs. King, hadn't appeared to hear it, but Shaggy knew that if he was caught with his phone out during class, he'd have it confiscated, and he'd need a signed release form from his parents to get it back. His phone buzzed several more times and he shifted in his seat so that the noise wasn't as conspicuous. _It like, must be a group text, _he thought to himself. He sent Scooby an eyebrow message, and Scooby dutifully sat up as straight as he could, blocking Shaggy from view, so Shaggy could sneak a peek at his phone.

**Daphne: Gang, I have an idea how to get around the Ultimatum!**

**Fred: srsly? what is it?!**

**Daphne: Just meet me outside of the auditorium after school.**

**Velma: Guys are you crazy stop texting we'll get in trouble.**

**Daphne: Sorry. Are you in though?**

**Velma: Yes. Now shh.**

**Fred: i'm in!**

Shaggy glanced sideways at Mrs. King. She continued her lecture and paid him no attention. Shaggy quickly typed up a response.

**scoob and me will be there too.**

He put his phone away and gave a thumbs up to Scooby, who slouched back to a casual stance.

x.X.x

"You guys are gonna love me," Daphne said when everyone met her at the doors to the auditorium. It was right near the front of the school, by the main office.

"Not for texting us in the middle of class and potentially getting us in trouble, I'm not," Velma muttered under her breath.

If Daphne had heard her, she didn't acknowledge it. "Here's my idea," she told them. "I think you all should do the school musical with me this year."

Everyone stared at her.

"…Excuse me?" Velma deadpanned.

Scooby covered his mouth with a paw to keep himself from laughing.

"You don't have to audition," Daphne told them. "Just sign up to do like, lights or costumes or something."

"But what's the big deal with the musical?" Fred wanted to know.

"There's a legend," Daphne began. "Any time Coolsville High does a performance that features a ghost or a character death, the Phantom of the Auditorium haunts the production."

"Rhe roo?" Scooby didn't like the sound of this.

"The Phantom of the Auditorium," Daphne repeated. "A senior told me about her. Apparently twenty years ago or so, Coolsville High did a production of _Phantom of the Opera _and the girl who played Christine _died_ after the chandelier fell and crushed her."

Everyone blanched.

"Like did you say she _died?_" Shaggy whispered.

"Yep," Daphne confirmed. "And apparently now anytime Coolsville High does a show that features a ghost or a death, weird stuff happens. Props get misplaced, costumes go missing, spotlights turn on by themselves. Last year when we did _Into the Woods _which has a bunch of deaths, the girl who played the witch fell off the staircase!" When she noticed the shocked expressions on everyone's faces, she waved them off. "She's fine. She was barely even hurt."

Fred and Velma looked at each other skeptically.

"How much do you bet it's just a few drama kids playing pranks on each other?" Fred asked Velma.

"Then like, how do you explain the girl who fell off the stairs last year?" Shaggy asked.

"Reah," Scooby agreed.

"I'm sure a bunch of students have just Pavloved themselves into believing anything to do with the legend," Velma replied.

The boys stared at her with blank expressions.

"Ivan Pavlov was a physiologist," Velma explained. "He's known primarily for his work in classical conditioning, such as training dogs to salivate at the ringing of a bell by – "

But Daphne interrupted. "Listen," she said, facing the gang again. "Regardless of whether or not the legend is true, I've heard a rumor that the musical this year _does _have something to do with a ghost."

"And?" Velma was annoyed at being interrupted.

"And that's how we get around the Ultimatum," Daphne replied, as though it were obvious. "We all do an extracurricular activity together, _and _we might have a mystery to solve."

"I get it," Fred replied. "Two birds, one stone."

"Exactly, babe," Daphne smiled, standing on her toes to kiss his cheek.

"Rokay," Scooby complied. "Rut Rye ran't ring."

"Like don't worry buddy," Shaggy comforted him. "Nobody's gonna make you sing. You and me can like, be in charge of props or something."

"So you'll do it?!" Daphne grinned.

The others shrugged.

That was enough for Daphne. She clapped and threw her arms around them all in turn. "Oh my gosh you guys, thank you! We're going to have so much fun!" She tugged on Fred's arm. "Come on, let's go in."

There were a few students already sitting in the front row, closest to the stage. One of them, a boy with spiky blonde hair, waved emphatically to Daphne.

"Gang," Daphne said, once they approached him. "This is my friend Holden. He played Cinderella's Prince in _Into the Woods _last year."

"That means we were technically married," Holden joked.

Fred scowled.

"I remember you," Shaggy said, suddenly realizing why he looked so familiar. "You were like, at Fred's birthday last year, right?"

"Oh, yeah! I thought I recognized your dog," Holden said, patting Scooby on the head. There wasn't time to say much else though, because a tall dark-skinned man with rectangular glasses and a goatee entered from a side door. Four other students, three girls and a boy, followed him.

"All right everybody, shut the hell up," the man commanded nonchalantly as he ascended the stairs to the stage. He certainly looked the way Shaggy had expected a drama teacher might look – dark clothes, dark features, plus the goatee and glasses. "My name is Mr. Atwood," the man introduced himself. He said nothing about the other students onstage with him. "I see some familiar faces, and even more non-familiar faces. Now, how many of you have ever acted in a play or a musical here at Coolsville High before?"

Daphne, Holden, and a smattering of other students shot their hands in the air. Everyone else's hands remained silently in their laps.

"All right," Mr. Atwood replied, his voice betraying no emotion. "For those of you who are new to the drama club, we do two main productions a year: a musical in the fall, and a straight play in the spring. Coolsville High takes the dramatic arts quite seriously. That being said, we are beginning the year with a rather serious subject matter. Our fall production will be the Pulitzer Prize and Tony-winning musical _Next to Normal, _with music by Tom Kitt and book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey_. _Has anyone heard of it?"

Again, only Daphne, Holden, and a handful of drama students nodded. Shaggy looked around at Scooby, Velma, and Fred. Their expressions were as blank as he felt.

"_Next to Normal,_" Mr. Atwood continued. "Tells the story of a mother who struggles with bipolar disorder, and the effects that managing her illness has on her family. The musical addresses grief, depression, suicide, drug abuse, and ethics in modern psychiatry."

"Geez, this play sounds like a barrel of laughs," a quiet voice muttered sarcastically behind Shaggy. He turned to find Tony Moretti sitting behind him.

"Because the subject matter is so dense and the cast is so small," Mr. Atwood went on, "only a handful of you will actually be cast in the show. Now I notice that many of the people at this meeting are ladies."

Shaggy looked around again. There were exactly four boys in the auditorium – himself, Fred, Holden, and Tony. Five, if you counted Scooby. The rest of the students, indeed, were female.

"I feel as though I have to warn you," Mr. Atwood told the girls solemnly. "There are only two women roles in this musical – the main role, Diana, and her daughter, Natalie. The other characters are Dan, who is Diana's husband; Gabe, Diana's son; and Henry, Natalie's love interest. There's also Dr. Madden and Dr. Fine, who are played by the same actor, and this role we could cast as a woman if necessary. But the only roles written _specifically _for a woman are Diana and Natalie."

Shaggy's stomach did a somersault. Did this mean that the director _expected _him to audition? Shaggy couldn't sing! Well, he could, but not like Daphne. He'd heard her – she could be on Broadway. _Maybe like, he'll hear me sing and won't cast me, _Shaggy thought to himself.

"Those of you who are not cast," Mr. Atwood was saying, "are encouraged to stay on in a behind-the-scenes capacity, working under one of these fine young people." Now, he gestured to the four students on stage with him. "These are some of our theater tech students who will be in charge of various backstage aspects of this production. Travis Brown, our lighting designer. Addie Wong, our sound engineer. Corinne Faulkner, props. Harmony Collins, costumes." He peered out into the audience and frowned. "Who does that dog belong to?" he asked. Shaggy blinked as he realized Mr. Atwood was talking about Scooby.

"Uh…like, me, sir," Shaggy replied, raising his hand. "He's allowed to be here. Principal O'Donavan said it was cool."

"Reah," Scooby answered. "Rye'm a remotional rupport rog,"

"And he's incredibly well behaved, Mr. Atwood," Daphne said, rushing to Shaggy and Scooby's defense.

"Yes," Fred jumped in. "He always does what he's told. He won't cause any trouble."

"He'll be an incredible asset to the production," Velma said. Shaggy shot his friends grateful glances.

Mr. Atwood stroked his goatee thoughtfully. "All right. What's his name?"

"Scooby Doo," the gang answered in unison.

"Okay then, Scooby Doo," Mr. Atwood said. "I don't have a stage manager yet. I'm going to pull one from the students after auditions are over, but for now, I'll utilize you as an assistant. Would you kindly pass out scripts to everyone, please?"

"Ruh-huh!" Scooby nodded eagerly and leaped up the stairs to the stage, where Mr. Atwood handed him a stack of purple books.

"These scripts are yours to keep," Mr. Atwood told everyone as Scooby began passing them out. "The songs are all available on YouTube and iTunes for you to listen to and get familiar with. If you'd like to audition, come prepared with a song of your choice from the score next Wednesday after school. I will accompany you on the piano. Also, be prepared to do a cold reading of a scene. If there are no more questions, you may go."

Once Scooby had finished passing out scripts, and everyone in the gang had one, they headed out for the Mystery Machine.

"Like, did you see how many guys there were at that interest meeting?" Shaggy whispered to Scooby as they let Fred and the girls take the lead. "It was like me, Fred, Tony, and Holden. And there are like, exactly four parts for guys in that musical."

Scooby looked at Shaggy sagely. "Rut rar roo roing to ro?"

Shaggy gulped. "Like…I think I'm going to have to audition."

* * *

**Sponge: Thanks for reading. If you've never listened to the music from **_**Next to Normal **_**before, I would highly recommend it. It might add some extra fun to your reading experience, but it's not integral to know the anything about the musical to enjoy this fic. Hope you enjoyed this first chapter. Review if you please!**


	2. Everything Else

**Sponge: Here comes chapter 2! Warning: some language, mentions of bipolar depression and suicide. Also, this entire fic will obviously be rife with spoilers for **_**Next to Normal, **_**so you have been warned! Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Scooby Doo characters. They belong to Cartoon Network, Warner Brothers, and Hanna-Barbera. Descriptions of the **_**Next to Normal **_**characters come from the script. Lyrics to the song "Everything Else" belong to Brian Yorkey.**

* * *

**Chapter 2: Everything Else**

Daphne explained to the gang the plot of _Next to Normal _on their way home from school that day.

"It's about a woman, Diana Goodman, who suffers from depression and bipolar disorder. Her husband is Dan, and her teenage daughter is Natalie. She also has a son, who was born before Natalie. His name is Gabe, but he died as a baby. Diana hallucinates him as a teenager, which is why she continually goes to the doctor. Eventually, it gets to the point where her hallucinations cause her to almost kill herself, so she undergoes electroshock therapy, but it erases nineteen years of her memory. Meanwhile, there's a boy at school named Henry who's interested in Natalie but there's so much going on in her home life that she doesn't know how to handle a relationship. And then Dan is just trying to be a good husband and father without quite knowing how."

Velma was perusing her script. She didn't really want to audition – she'd be much more comfortable being behind the scenes as a sound engineer, or maybe the stage manager – but she was intrigued by the character descriptions:

**Diana: "Sexy. Sharp. Delusional bipolar depressive. Thirties or forties."**

**Gabe: "Diana's son. Dashing. Gentle. Bright. Playful. Everything a mother would want. Almost eighteen."**

**Dan: "Diana's husband. Handsome. Genuine. Constant. Tired. Thirties or forties."**

**Natalie: "Diana's daughter. Sixteen and trying to be perfect. It's not going well."**

**Henry: "Musician. Romantic. Stoner. Slacker. Philosopher king. Seventeen."**

**Doctor Madden: "On the young side of ageless. Assured. A rock star."**

It was a small cast. And it hadn't escaped Velma's notice that Shaggy and Fred had been among the only guys at the interest meeting.

Shaggy himself had been rather quiet since Daphne had begun talking about the plot. Velma bumped him gently with her shoulder.

"You all right, Shag?"

Shaggy blinked at her. His mind had been all over the place.

"Like yeah," he assured her. "Just like…thinking about the audition."

"Why don't we listen to the songs from the show?" Fred suggested. "That way we'll have an idea of which parts we might want to go for."

Daphne plugged her phone into the Mystery Machine's auxiliary cable and opened iTunes.

x.X.x

For the next week, it was all _Next to Normal _all the time for the gang. They listened to the soundtrack before and after school. Daphne was gunning hard for the main role of Diana, so she had chosen to sing a song called, "I Miss The Mountains" and constantly asked the gang how she might improve herself. Fred and Shaggy both had chosen songs that Dan sang – Shaggy was singing the song "I've Been," and Fred would sing a few bars from the song "I Am The One." Velma had to admit – everyone had pretty good singing voices, even Shaggy.

"Are you going to audition, Velm?" Daphne asked the following Tuesday. They had just left homeroom and were heading to APUSH as the boys went to geometry.

Velma shook her head. "I don't think so. You saw how many girls were at that interest meeting – I don't think I could hold a candle to them. Besides, I think I'd feel much more comfortable behind-the-scenes. We can't all be Broadway stars," she teased. Daphne shoved Velma's shoulder playfully.

But that afternoon, when the final bell rang, Velma left the band room and headed for a sound-proof practice room off the music hallway. The scripts they'd been given had come with the musical score, the sheet music. In the play, the character Natalie was a pianist. Velma also played the piano. Just for fun, she pulled out the sheet music for Natalie's song "Everything Else," set it on the piano, and sat down to play.

The opening riff was a little complicated, but Velma had been playing for eight years. She didn't fumble at all.

"_Mozart was crazy," _she sang, as Natalie would.

"_Flat fucking crazy. Batshit, I hear._

_But his music's not crazy, it's balanced, it's nimble, it's crystalline clear."_

She kept singing through the rest of the first part of the song, until a knocking at the door interrupted her. She checked her phone for the time. It was probably the gang, ready to go home. But when she opened the door, Mr. Atwood's face greeted her.

"Oh. Hi, Mr. Atwood," Velma said, a little self-consciously.

"Hi there. Dinkley, right?" he asked. Velma nodded. "You're one of Daphne Blake's friends. I saw you at the interest meeting last week."

"Oh, yeah," Velma replied. "Daphne's crazy about this musical. She's really excited about auditions."

"Yes, she's a joy to work with," Mr. Atwood said. "You know, Mr. Harrison and I go way back. We both started working here around the same time."

Velma furrowed her brow. Mr. Harrison was her band instructor.

"He tells me you're quite the pianist," Mr. Atwood continued.

Ah. The fog lifted in Velma's mind.

"Did you hear me play just now?" she wanted to know. So much for sound-proof.

"I did," Mr. Atwood admitted. "I wondered if you might be auditioning for the role of Natalie."

"Honestly Mr. Atwood," Velma told him, "I was just messing around on the piano. I think I'd feel a lot more comfortable backstage. You said at the interest meeting you needed a stage manager."

"I do," Mr. Atwood said. "But I need a stage manager who's been with the drama club for a while. Someone who knows how things work backstage. It'll probably go to a senior." Mr. Atwood looked at Velma directly. "You have talent, Dinkley. I'd really like it if our Natalie was authentic, and really played the piano. I think you should audition."

Velma just stared at him blankly. She could think of nothing else to do but nod.

Mr. Atwood's face lit up. "Excellent," he beamed. "Why don't you play that song tomorrow? You'll do great." With that, Mr. Atwood waved and headed out of the practice room.

Velma stared after him. _Jinkies, _she thought. _I wasn't ready for that._

x.X.x

The next day, the whole gang – including Scooby – showed up for auditions.

Fred jerked his head towards Velma's sheet music. "I thought you said you weren't going to audition, Velm?"

Velma looked at the ground and felt her cheeks go a little pink. "Yeah well…" she hedged. "I changed my mind." She'd been practicing at home, but she still felt nervous.

All of them sat together as more and more students arrived. Daphne pointed them out to the gang in turn. Velma tried to follow along, but she was too preoccupied.

"That's Leesa Beamer," Daphne said of a platinum-blonde haired girl who sat a few rows away from them. "She's a senior. She played the witch in _Into the Woods _last year." This brought Velma out of her reverie.

"So that's the girl who fell off the stairs?" she asked.

Daphne confirmed with a nod. "She's extremely talented. She got a full-ride scholarship to Julliard next year." Daphne frowned. "She's probably my biggest competition for the role of Diana."

Fred squeezed her hand. "Don't worry, babe. You're amazing, and you're going to do a great job."

Tony and Holden arrived then, both slipping into the row behind the gang. They all exchanged hellos and were about to say more when Mr. Atwood arrived.

"All right everybody, shut the hell up," he said.

"Does he like, say that every time?" Shaggy whispered to Daphne.

"Yep," she whispered back.

"Thank you all for coming out to auditions for _Next to Normal,_" Mr. Atwood said. He went on to explain how auditions would work – he would call everyone up alphabetically by last name to sing their song and perform a cold reading. "Scooby," he called. "Could you be the reading partner?"

Scooby stared quizzically at Mr. Atwood.

He shrugged. "Just trying to include you in the process."

"Ruh…rokay," Scooby replied, making his way up the stairs to the stage.

"Now," Mr. Atwood said once Scooby was in place. "When I call your name, please come up to the stage. First up: Leesa Beamer."

The platinum-blonde girl made her way to the stage.

Velma had to admit – Leesa was good. She had an excellent voice, and her cold reading with Scooby was good too, considering how Scooby's speech impediment made it difficult to understand him. Velma wondered if Daphne was feeling nervous.

If she was, she didn't show it. When Daphne's turn came, she blew everyone away with her song. Like all good friends, the gang clapped and cheered when she finished.

"All right, all right," Mr. Atwood muttered. "No commentary from the peanut gallery, please."

Daphne's cold reading with Scooby went well too. After a few more girls, Mr. Atwood called Velma's name. He got up from the piano to let her have a seat, and she set her sheet music down on the music rack.

She took a deep breath, placed her hands on the keyboard, and played the opening notes. She pretended not to notice everyone's eyes on her as she began to sing.

"_Mozart was crazy._

_Flat fucking crazy. Batshit, I hear._

_But his music's not crazy, it's balanced it's nimble, it's crystalline clear."_

She dared a glance up. Her friends gazed at her admiringly. Shaggy looked awestruck. Velma had played the piano for them before, but she'd never sung. Even Scooby had a proud gleam in his eye. It fortified her.

"_There's harmony, logic, you listen to these._

_You don't hear his doubt, or his debts, or disease._

_You scan through the score and put fingers on keys,_

_And you play…_

_And everything else goes away._

_Everything else goes away…"_

Velma was really getting into it now. Her fingers flew across the keys and her voice rose as the music grew more frantic.

_"And you play till it's perfect_

_You play till you ache._

_You play till the strings or your fingernails break._

_So you'll rock that recital and get into Yale_

_So you won't feel so sick, and you won't look so pale._

_Cuz you've got your full ride, and your early admit_

_So you're done with this school, and with all of this shit_

_And you graduate early, you're gone as of May_

_And there's nothing your paranoid parents can say."_

Velma took a deep breath and glanced back out at the others. The gang looked as though they might burst with pride for her. In particular, Shaggy's eyes shone with astonishment. Velma tried not to grin too widely, and focused back on the last few bars of music.

_"And you know that it's just a sonata away, and you play_

_And you play_

_And everything else goes away_

_Everything else goes away_

_Everything else goes away..."_

"Thank you," Mr. Atwood said as the final notes faded out. Even though he'd just asked them not to applaud, the gang did for Velma anyway. They stopped once Mr. Atwood shot them a glare. Velma read with Scooby, and then sat back down.

"Velm, you've been holding out on us," Daphne teased.

"Seriously Dinks," said Tony from behind them. "Great job."

"That was amazing," Shaggy told her. "Like…really."

Velma felt her face go red from all the praise.

A few more people auditioned. Fred did quite well – he had a nice, deep baritone. Daphne felt her heart flutter a bit when he looked at her while he sang.

Everyone was blown away by how well Tony Moretti did. He sang part of the song "It's Gonna Be Good," and his voice was rich and buttery smooth. The gang gawked at him through his entire song.

"Talk about holding out on us," Velma commented when Tony returned to his seat.

"Like dude," said Shaggy. "You're really good."

Tony shrugged humbly. "My older brother's in a rock band. I guess pipes run in the family, eh?"

Everyone was also pleasantly surprised by Shaggy's talent – including Shaggy himself.

"Maybe instead of solving mysteries, we should have been a band," Fred remarked.

The final person to go was Holden Walsh, and he knocked everyone else's auditions out of the park. He sang the song "I'm Alive," and was so phenomenal that all anyone could do was gape open-mouthed at him through his song.

"Excellent job everyone," Mr. Atwood said at the end. "I'd like to hear a few people read together for the callbacks." He pointed to Mystery Inc, Tony, Holden, and Leesa. "Could you all please hang back for a few minutes? The rest of you, thank you. The cast list will be posted by the end of the week."

Everyone read for everything – Daphne, Velma, and Leesa all read for both Diana and Natalie. Shaggy, Fred, Tony, and Holden took turns reading for Dan, Gabe, Henry, and Dr. Madden. By the time everyone had finished, it was almost five o'clock.

"Thank you everyone," Mr. Atwood told them all. "I'll post the cast list on Friday. Beamer, hang back a sec more, will you?"

The gang headed out of the auditorium, saying goodbye to Tony and Holden as they went. Once they were in the Mystery Machine though, Daphne groaned.

"Daph, what's wrong?" Fred placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Why did Mr. Atwood want Leesa Beamer to stay behind?" she wondered. "Is it another callback?" She frowned. "I'm going to be so disappointed if I'm not Diana."

"You had a much better audition than she did, Daphne," Velma tried to comfort her. "And even if you're not Diana, you might be cast as Natalie."

"You're a shoo-in for that role," Daphne said. She gazed out the window and sighed again. "Ugh, I'm so nervous!"

x.X.x

Thursday was agonizing. Even though Mr. Atwood had said the cast list wouldn't be posted till Friday, every member of the gang found themselves wandering by the bulletin board (the call board, as Daphne said) outside of the auditorium throughout the day, even when it took them far out of the way of their classes.

"I wonder if the list will be posted at the beginning of the day or the end," Fred pondered during lunch. No one answered him.

Friday was worse. The gang checked first thing in the morning, but the cast list still hadn't been posted.

"That's it," Daphne said as they headed to the main office to see Fred off for morning announcement duties. "I am not checking again until the end of the day."

Of course, that didn't pan out. After lunch, Holden Walsh approached them.

"Hey, did you guys see the cast list yet?" he asked them.

"Is it up?" Daphne almost shrieked.

Holden nodded. "Yep, just saw Atwood put it up myself. I'm Gabe," he said with a shrug.

"Congrats, man," Fred told him. "You had a great audition."

"Thanks," Holden replied. "Well, see you later!" He gave them a wave, but the gang had already grabbed their things and raced down the hall.

They arrived at the call board breathless. There was a small crowd around it, but the gang made their way to the front.

_**NEXT TO NORMAL**_

**Director….Mr. Keith Atwood**

**CREW**

**Stage Manager….Leesa Beamer**

**Assistant Stage Manager….Scooby Doo**

**Lead Lighting Technician….Travis Brown**

**Lead Sound Engineer….Adelaide Wong**

**Lead Costume Designer….Harmony Collins**

**Lead Props Mistress….Corinne Faulkner**

**CASTING**

**Diana….Daphne Blake**

**Gabe….Holden Walsh**

**Dan….Fred Jones**

**Natalie….Velma Dinkley**

**Henry….Norville Rogers**

**Dr. Madden/Dr. Fine….Tony Moretti**

Daphne squealed and brought her hands to her mouth. Excitement shone through her eyes and she felt ready to burst from relief. "Oh my God oh my God oh my God!" she squeaked.

"I told you, Daph," Velma said. "Congratulations!"

"You guys too!" Daphne cried, hugging the other girl. "Oh my gosh, I can't BELIEVE we all get to act in this play together!" She patted Scooby. "And Scooby, you get to be part of it too, because you're the ASM!"

"Rhe rut?" Scooby didn't understand the acronym.

"Assistant stage manager," Daphne clarified. "Oh, this is amazing!" She threw her arms around Fred's neck and kissed him.

"It looks like rehearsals start on Monday after school" Velma remarked, peering further down the list towards the bottom of the page. There was a line of text that said as much.

Daphne checked the clock on the wall. "There's still a little time before study hall. How about I show you all around backstage?"

Everyone agreed, so they entered the auditorium via a side door. Shaggy gazed up at the suddenly intimidating-looking stage. _Has it always been this big? _Maybe he just felt this way now because he knew he'd be performing on it soon.

"So," Daphne began. "Here's some important information about the theater." She led them up onto the stage and gestured so the gang was looking out at the empty auditorium seats. "To your right," she gestured with her right hand, "is known as 'stage right.' The other side is 'stage left.' So therefore, if the director tells you to move 'downstage right,'…" she looked pointedly at the gang, and then in the direction she meant.

"We're supposed to move close to the edge of the stage, to the right?" Velma guessed.

Daphne nodded. "Exactly. When the director says 'downstage,' he means go at or towards the front of the stage, or the 'apron'. 'Upstage' means move towards the back of the stage. The audience seating area is known as the 'house,' so 'stage right' and 'house left' are the same."

"Rye red's rinning," Scooby complained under his breath to Shaggy, but Daphne overheard.

"Scooby, as the ASM, you'll have to know some of this," she told him. "Now, look up over the house." They did. There was a sturdy platform with a railing built into the ceiling. "That's known as the catwalk. Any special lighting design is done from up there."

"Why's it called a catwalk?" Shaggy wanted to know.

"Because it's a very thin walkway and you have to tread very lightly," Daphne responded. "As the cat walks."

"How do we get there?" Fred asked.

"Well, _we _won't actually have to go up there," Daphne said. "Only the techies actually utilize that area. But I can take you up there anyway." They went behind the curtains and to the left (_Upstage left, _Shaggy thought to himself), and climbed a long staircase up to a room above the off-stage area.

"This is the costume loft," Daphne said, opening the door.

"Zoinks!" Shaggy gasped. The room was bigger than his bedroom, and it was full to the brim with rods and rods of clothing. Colorful costumes exploded from every corner of the room, bins full of hats and belts peeked from underneath tulle and polyester. Three headless mannequins stood off to the side, near an old green couch that had seen better days.

"Ooh! While we're here, let me show you something cool." Daphne led them over to the green couch and pushed it away from the wall. She bent down to the floor and pulled up a latch that the gang hadn't noticed. The panel of wall swung towards them like a door, revealing a small crawl space, filled mostly with shoes.

"Jinkies!" exclaimed Velma. "What's this for?"

"No one knows," Daphne said. "It's where we keep all the shoes, but the seniors think it has something to do with the legend of the Phantom."

"Of course they do," Velma muttered as Daphne closed the wall.

Daphne led them past everything to another door. They walked through and climbed up two steps onto a narrow walkway. About halfway out, Daphne stopped them. "This is the catwalk."

They looked down onto the stage where they'd just been.

"Neat," Fred said.

They were in no danger of falling, unless someone wanted to vault over the railing into the seats below, but Shaggy still felt a little precarious. He was relieved when they made it to the other side where there wasn't just a railing separating him from the vast expanse of space.

"What's on this side?" Velma asked. Daphne led them down two short steps and into another room. This one was similar to the costume room, but a woodshop-ish smell permeated throughout from all the beams and planks that filled the room.

"This is the wood loft," Daphne told them. "This is where all of the lumber that goes to the set design lives."

"Rool." Scooby looked around appreciatively.

Velma checked her phone. "We're going to be late to study hall. We've got to go." The gang cut through the wood loft down another flight of stairs back to the stage, and made their way to seats in the auditorium. The junior class study halls met here, while seniors met in the library, sophomores in the basement, and freshmen in the lecture hall. Other juniors entered from the hallway and sat in surrounding seats.

Before starting in on his geometry homework, Shaggy stole one more glance up at the large, intimidating stage. He hoped he was ready for whatever was to come.

* * *

**Sponge: Thanks for reading. Review if you please!**


	3. Who's CrazyPsychopharmacologist and I

**Sponge: Welcome back! Thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far. Here's chapter three! Warning: some language. Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Scooby-Doo characters. They belong to Cartoon Network, Warner Brothers, and Hanna-Barbera. All dialogue that's in bold font comes directly from the **_**Next to Normal **_**script.**

* * *

**Chapter 3: Who's Crazy/My Psychopharmocologist and I**

Shaggy spent the weekend listening to the soundtrack and reading the script over and over again. His role, Henry, was certainly not a focal point of the action. Most of the dialogue and music went to Fred, Daphne, Velma, and Holden. Shaggy didn't have any songs just to himself, and for that he said a prayer of thanks - even when he had solos, the songs were shared between him and at least one other person.

Usually, it was Velma.

It made sense. Henry and Natalie were love interests. But Shaggy hadn't counted on it being quite so intimate. There was a lot of touching between the two characters. Embracing.

Kissing.

This was the part that worried Shaggy the most. If his math was right, Henry and Natalie kissed no less than five times during the course of the play. And now that he had given a name to the way he felt about Velma's relationship with Tony - jealous - he couldn't stop thinking about her in a different context. Last semester, on his very first day of school, Fred had asked Shaggy a simple question: _"Have you ever liked a girl so much that the idea of her dating some other guy made you crazy?" _

At the time, Shaggy hadn't. But once he'd learned that Tony and Velma had dated for almost the entirety of ninth grade, he couldn't deny that he'd felt something well up inside him, like hot bile. Now he knew it was jealousy. Did that mean that he liked Velma...romantically?

And on top of all that, there was the heavy subject matter of the play itself. Shaggy wasn't sure he could ask his parents to come see this play, for multiple reasons. He didn't want anyone to get upset.

He had so many emotions mixed up inside him all weekend, but all he could do was wait nervously for Monday.

x.X.x

On Monday afternoon, Shaggy and Scooby headed downstairs from the art classroom to the auditorium for the first rehearsal. Daphne, whose final class of the day was drama, arrived first, and Velma was close behind since the band room was just one hallway over from the auditorium. The student government association room was also on the first floor, so Fred got there next. Shaggy and Scooby were the last to arrive, and found the rest of the cast sitting cross-legged in a circle on the apron of the stage. Many of the student crew had assembled as well – "techies," Daphne had called them.

"Like hey," Shaggy said, dropping down between Daphne and Velma. They both smiled hello at him. Fred had one arm around Daphne and was chatting with Tony on his other side. Holden was studying his script intensely.

Scooby looked around. "Rhere's rhe rirector?"

"Mr. Atwood?" Holden looked up from his script. "He'll be here soon. I think he and Leesa were going over some logistics for rehearsal today."

Sure enough, both Mr. Atwood and Leesa Beamer entered the auditorium from the side door and ascended the stairs to the stage.

"All right everybody, shut the hell up," Mr. Atwood said.

Shaggy caught Velma's eye and they grinned at each other. Mr. Atwood and his antics were quickly becoming both predictable and funny.

Mr. Atwood and Leesa both pulled folding chairs from the wings (which Shaggy learned from Daphne was the theatrical term for the off-stage area where actors waited to enter the stage) and sat down near the rest of the cast and crew.

"Hello and welcome to _Next to Normal,_" Mr. Atwood addressed everyone. "Congratulations. I believe we're going to have an absolutely stellar performance, if your auditions are any indication." He cleared his throat. "Now before we begin, I'd like to tell you a little bit about myself for those of you who are new...which is basically all of you."

"He does this for every play," Holden whispered to Shaggy. "Even when everyone in the cast and crew has been in a Coolsville High production before."

If Mr. Atwood had heard Holden, he made no indication. "My name is Keith Atwood," he introduced himself. "I graduated from Elon University with my bachelor's degree in Drama and Theater studies, and no I will not tell you how long ago I graduated because it was long enough ago that it brings on a sense of ennui and existential crisis when I think about it."

This statement elicited snickers from the company.

Mr. Atwood continued. "I moved to Ohio about ten years ago and I've since directed every main stage performance here at Coolsville High." He appraised the group. "Now I'd like us to go around the circle to introduce ourselves and let the group know your role in this production. If you're an actor, who do you play? If you're behind the scenes, what exactly do you do? Let us know." He pointed to Leesa. "We'll start with you, Beamer."

Leesa smiled warmly at everyone. "Hi guys. My name is Leesa Beamer. I'm a senior, and I'm the stage manager for this production. I'm here basically for organizational support, making sure the production runs smoothly both onstage and off, and helping Mr. Atwood remain calm." She shot him a teasing, sideways glance and Mr. Atwood made a mock-laughing face.

"Good luck with that," Holden remarked.

More laughter from the group.

Mr. Atwood pretended to scowl at Holden. "Very funny, Walsh. Why don't you go next?"

"All right." Holden addressed the group. "I'm Holden Walsh. I'm a senior, and I play Gabe. This will be my fourth musical here at Coolsville High. Prior to this, I was in _The Crucible _as John Proctor_, Into the Woods _as Cinderella's Prince – "

"Okay, okay," Mr. Atwood interrupted. "No one asked for your life story. Save it for the program bio." But there was a teasing glint in his eye, and Leesa, Holden, and the drama kids all laughed.

Shaggy glanced at Velma again. He'd never known a teacher quite like Mr. Atwood.

Tony went next. "Tony Moretti. I'm a junior, and I play Dr. Madden and Dr. Fine."

"There, you see?" Mr. Atwood shook his finger jokingly at Leesa and Holden. "Short and sweet. You could learn from him. Next, please."

"Uh..." Fred looked around at the group. "Hi, I'm Fred Jones. I'm a junior, and I play Dan Goodman."

Daphne smiled at the group. "I'm Daphne Blake. I'm a junior, and I play Diana."

Shaggy looked at no one in particular as he introduced himself. "Like, I'm a junior, and I play Henry." After a beat, he remembered. "Oh and like, my name is Norville Rogers, but I go by Shaggy."

"Good call, man," Holden quipped. "Norville sounds like the name of an eighty-year-old bus driver."

The boys all chuckled.

"Moving on," Mr. Atwood interrupted.

Velma cleared her throat. "I'm Velma Dinkley," she introduced herself. "I'm also a junior, and I play Natalie Goodman."

Everyone looked expectantly at Scooby Doo.

He cast a wild glance at Shaggy, who motioned for him to go. "Ruh...Rye'm Rooby Roo rand Rye'm rhe Ray-SM."

Shaggy translated for Leesa. "My dog, Scooby Doo, is like, gonna help you out, I guess."

"Great." Leesa beamed a radiant smile in Scooby's direction. "I love dogs. I think we'll get along really well, and I'll teach you everything I know."

"Rokay," Scooby agreed. He had no idea where to start, but it was a good omen that the stage manager was already so eager to show him the ropes.

All the members of the crew introduced themselves next. Travis Brown was a senior and the head lighting technician. Corinne Faulkner, the props mistress, was a junior. The sound engineer, Addie Wong, was a senior as well. Harmony Collins, another senior, was the costume designer. They each had several students working under them, mostly freshmen and sophomores. After everyone had introduced themselves, Mr. Atwood got down to business.

"All right, everybody," he said. "Beamer's going to pass out some rehearsal schedules. As you can see, we meet every day after school for two hours. As we get closer to the performance dates, we may be required to meet longer, or on weekends, but if we stick to the schedule, we should be fine. You'll see that Halloween is the day of our first full run-through. That's one week before our show opens. We have four performances - opening night is Friday, November 8th at 8 pm. Two performances on Saturday November 9th - a matinee at 2 pm, and an evening performance at 8pm. The closing show is Sunday, November 10th at 2 pm. Like I said, I know this is going to be a great performance, and I'm eager to get started. For our first rehearsal, we're just going to have a read-through. Don't worry about singing today – we'll get to that later. We'll just talk through the songs for now. Beamer here will read the stage directions. Is everyone ready?"

Everyone obediently opened their scripts. Mr. Atwood nodded at Leesa, who turned to the first page of her script and read the stage direction. "Music. Then, the lights go out..."

x.X.x

Shaggy had to admit - the play was good. And actually hearing everyone read through their parts helped get him in the spirit of the performance. Daphne especially was amazing, but he'd already known that. No one sang that first week - Mr. Atwood informed them that the following week, the choir teacher Ms. Barden would come for music rehearsal, along with Mr. Harrison and some band students, but until then, they were to focus on line memorization.

Fred worried endlessly about it. "I'm no good at that," he complained. "I've never been good at memorizing things."

No surprise, Daphne and Holden had the first half of Act I memorized by the end of the week. Velma wasn't far behind, and it was only because she also had piano parts to memorize that she wasn't further along. Shaggy and Tony were about on par with each other, which made sense, as they had the smallest roles in the show.

But Fred was still struggling hard on Friday.

"Don't worry babe, you're really close!" Daphne encouraged him at their final rehearsal of the week. They were rehearsing a scene in the opening number, "Just Another Day," the context being Dan and Diana having just finished having sex early one morning. It was easy to be nonchalant about it, because there was nothing untoward about the dialogue at all. It was supposed to go like this:

Fred/Dan: **That was great, wasn't it? It was great. Oh Christ, I'm late.**

Daphne/Diana:** That'll teach you to take a whole ten minutes.**

Fred/Dan:** Sorry, what?**

Daphne/Diana:** I said, isn't it a beautiful day?**

Fred/Dan:** Okay. Sure. I mean it's cloudy and raining, and really cold for September, but beautiful.**

Daphne/Diana: **Makes you want to dive in with both feet, doesn't it?**

Fred/Dan: **Absolutely.**

That was the whole scene before the song started in again. It was short, but it was giving Fred serious trouble. There wasn't any blocking yet (another term Shaggy had learned from Daphne, which meant staging the actors the way they would be for the performance) so Fred and Daphne just ran their lines standing up together onstage. Mr. Atwood, Holden, and Scooby watched from the front row with pained expressions every time Fred missed a line, which was often. Velma and Shaggy sat together several rows behind them and went back and forth between cringing at Fred and watching Tony and Leesa dance in the aisle.

Tony, in his first role as Dr. Fine, had to do a dance with Daphne (as Diana) in the song "Who's Crazy/My Psychopharmacologist and I" (the pronunciation of that word, Shaggy had learned from Velma - 'sy-ko-farm-a-call-o-jist'), and while Tony was an excellent singer and actor, he lacked talent in the choreography department. Leesa was what Daphne called a "triple threat," which meant she could act, sing, and dance, so she was his dance instructor, though it didn't seem to help much.

"This is painful to watch," Velma muttered to Shaggy as she watched Tony fumble over Leesa's foot.

"Like, which one?" Shaggy murmured back, as both Fred and Mr. Atwood grimaced when Fred said "December" instead of "September" for the fourth time in a row.

"All of it," Velma replied.

"Goddamnit," Tony swore when he missed another step.

Leesa, to her credit, was unwaveringly patient. "Don't worry, Tony," she soothed. "You'll get there. This is only the first week - no one expects you to be perfect right away."

"I gotta take a break or I'll go crazy," Tony said. "I'm gonna try to memorize that list of med instructions I'm supposed to give before the song."

Leesa nodded. "Sure thing. Let me know when you're ready to try again."

"Jones," said Mr. Atwood, who was clearly on the fraying ends of his patience. "How about you and I practice one-on-one? It might help to get away from prying eyes."

Fred glanced at Daphne. He knew she was probably ready to take a break too, but he felt terrible.

She smiled at him. "I think that's a good idea, babe. I can run some lines with Holden."

Upon hearing his name, Holden leapt to his feet. "Sure thing, Daph. Opening scene?"

"Sounds good." Daphne and Holden settled into some seats in the auditorium while Fred and Mr. Atwood moved further upstage.

"Scooby," Leesa called. "Wanna go on a quick backstage tour? I can show you the ASM desk, where you'll be during the performances to call the cues."

"Rure, Reesa," Scooby agreed, nodding his head upward to Shaggy and Velma before following Leesa backstage.

Velma sighed and brought up her script. "Wanna run some lines?"

"Like, sure," Shaggy replied, opening his own book. "How about one of the short scenes in the middle of the psycho-karma whatever song?"

Velma giggled. "Psychopharmacologist."

Shaggy smiled back. Making her laugh was one of his favorite things. "Like I'm just glad I don't have to say that word."

Velma shook her head wryly at him and read her first line.

Velma/Natalie:** "It's just that the thing with jazz is, how do you ever know if you got it right? It's just making shit up."**

Shaggy/Henry:** "Which is also known as the act of creation."**

Velma/Natalie: **"Oh. You're one of those pretentious stoner types."**

Shaggy/Henry: **"That's totally unfair. I'm not pretentious. And I'm definitely not classical. It's so rigid and structured. There's no room for improvisation. You have to play the notes on the page."**

Velma/Natalie: **"Yes, and what did Mozart know anyway? He should have just smoked a bowl and jammed on 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.'"**

Shaggy/Henry: **"Yeah, let's do that!"**

They grinned at each other. This was a conversation they might seriously have in real life. Shaggy still felt guilty about his stint with pot – especially the way his friends had found out about it – but he had to admit, this casting was spot-on.

"Next?" Velma asked. They flipped to the next page, where the song continued with a different scene between Henry and Natalie.

Velma/Natalie:** "I've wasted like, weeks of practice with you in here. Improvising."**

Shaggy/Henry:** "Oscar Peterson was classically trained."**

Velma/Natalie:** "Beethoven did cocaine."**

Shaggy/Henry:** "Miles Davis went to Julliard."**

Velma/Natalie:** "Mozart wrote poems about farts."**

The stage directions after this last read _(Henry and Natalie are now very close…) _and indeed, Shaggy and Velma found that they had drawn quite close together. Velma could see each whisker on Shaggy's chin, and felt her heart thunder in her chest. She had to admit, she'd always found this tall, skinny boy attractive, ever since he'd joined her class last winter. She and Daphne had talked a few times about when or if Velma would ever ask him out, but Velma knew she couldn't risk it. Their friendship was too important to her. If Shaggy felt the same way, it might be a different story. But so far he'd given her no inkling that she could tell, apart from the faint blush that spread across his cheeks now. But surely this was due to their proximity to each other, right?

…Right?

"**Fortunately, I have no desire for sex!"** Daphne called out across the aisle. Shaggy and Velma blinked and looked towards her. She and Tony were now sitting together, rehearsing the split scene. The line she'd just said was the same one Diana said after Natalie's Mozart farts line. Holden was nearby, watching with a smile.

Daphne continued. **"Although whether that's the medicine or the marriage is anybody's guess."**

Tony replied as Dr. Fine. **"I'm sure it's the medicine."**

"**Oh, thank you,"** Daphne/Diana responded, flattered.** "That's very sweet. But my husband's waiting** **in the** **car."** She shot a wistful glance across the auditorium at Fred, who was still working with Mr. Atwood.

Shaggy looked back down at his script, to see the next stage direction was _(…but instead of kissing, Henry and Natalie play furiously, four hands)._

He shuddered at what had nearly transpired between him and Velma. He was so nervous about kissing her, and he knew it would come eventually. Hopefully it would come later rather than sooner, and he'd be able to grow a pair by then.

x.X.x

Scooby had followed Leesa into the prop closet, which was just off the stage-left wings. Corinne and the stagehands were there, sifting through some neatly organized bins looking for various props they might need. They waved at Leesa and Scooby as they passed by.

"This is the prop closet. Over the summer," Leesa told him, "a bunch of the seniors in the ITS inventoried everything in here, threw out old stuff and ordered new stuff. Everything in here is _finally _properly organized and labeled, which is a huge weight off my shoulders." She sighed and cast a glance upward where Scooby remembered the costume loft was. "Now if we could just get all the costumes under control, we'd be golden."

"Rhat's rhe Rye-TS?" Scooby wanted to know.

Leesa smiled. "Sorry. It's the International Thespian Society. It's an honor society, like the NHS or Quill and Scroll." Scooby still looked confused, so Leesa elaborated. "NHS is the National Honor Society. Quill and Scroll is an honor society for journalism. Joining an honor society like that looks good for extracurriculars on your college resumes."

There was that word again, "extracurricular." Scooby felt as though the Ultimatum was following him everywhere.

Leesa moved along, pointing out the girls' dressing room across from the prop closet. As they walked across to the other side of the stage, she pointed to the area above them, which she called the 'fly space,' and explained the rope and pulley system that dropped down or lifted up backdrops and curtains during a performance. When they reached the stage-right wings, Leesa showed Scooby the boy's dressing room, a smaller lumber room (similar to the wood loft, but with smaller set pieces) and his ASM desk. Truthfully though, Scooby wasn't really paying attention. He was still thinking about the Ultimatum.

Suddenly, he had a thought. They were here to get around the Ultimatum, right? Isn't that what Daphne had said? She'd mentioned something about a ghost haunting the auditorium whenever a production featured ghost characters, or a death. Well, Gabe was a ghost, sort of. And Diana almost kills herself near the end of Act I. Scooby glanced sideways at Leesa, who was still talking about the ASM desk. Should he ask her about it? He wasn't really sure he wanted to know.

But Leesa made up his mind for him.

"You're part of that mystery-solving group, right?" she asked him, taking a seat at the desk. "With Blake and the others?"

"Reah," Scooby replied.

"I heard about the Wendigo thing from last year," Leesa said. "And all the creepy stuff that happened this summer." Now Leesa looked at him, a conspiratorial glint in her eye. "Wanna hear a real ghost story?"

Now that she was offering it up to him, Scooby was positive that he did not at all want to hear a real ghost story. But it would be rude to say no, right? So he nodded. Leesa smiled wider, got off the chair, and sat cross-legged on the floor. Scooby sat down in front of her.

"The legend goes," Leesa began. "About twenty years ago, Coolsville High was the first school in the area to get the rights to the musical _The Phantom of the Opera. _It was a trial run, to see how well the show would do on the high school stage. It was huge news – all over the papers, the TV, the radio. The drama department was national news for a while. But after what happened here, _Phantom _rights got tabled for high school use until just a few years ago."

"Rut rappened?" Scooby asked, even though Daphne had already told them.

"The girl who played Christine, the main role, was beautiful," Leesa told him. "And talented. And much like Christine in the musical, this girl was torn between two boys – one who played Raoul, and one who played the Phantom. Also like Christine, the girl chose Raoul over the Phantom, and the Phantom got jealous.

"There's a pivotal scene in the play, where the Phantom brings down the chandelier," Leesa continued. "Once during rehearsal, the girl playing Christine didn't get out of the way fast enough, and it crushed her. She died instantly, a victim of the Phantom's jealous rage. And ever since then, she haunts our productions, especially when the play features ghosts or a death." Leesa looked around, then leaned forward to whisper to Scooby. "I saw her last year."

"Roo rid?" Scooby's voice was as quiet as a breath.

Leesa nodded. "During rehearsal for _Into the Woods. _We had built a large staircase for the set and as I was climbing down, she appeared. It was just for a minute, but I got a good look at her. She's terrifying. She has thin, black hair and beady yellow eyes, and she wears the white wedding dress that Christine wears at the end of the play." Leesa shuddered and shook her head, as though trying to shake the memory out of it. "It startled me enough that I fell off the stairs. Luckily I wasn't hurt, but it was absolutely terrifying." Leesa looked around. "I wonder how long it'll take her to show up this year."

Scooby looked around too, unnerved. He felt the fur on the back of his neck prick up. Even though he could hear the sounds of rehearsal from the other side of the curtain, everything felt ominous to him now.

x.X.x

"All right everybody," Mr. Atwood said at the end of rehearsal. The cast and crew had all gathered back on stage. "Great work today. I know some of us might feel a little discouraged," (here he glanced so quickly at Fred that no one might have noticed unless they were looking directly at him – which of course, Fred was) "but remember it's only week one. Everyone's doing a good job and I know that with hard work, you'll make this performance a great one."

Daphne squeezed Fred's arm affectionately.

"Next week," Mr. Atwood continued, "we start in on the music rehearsals and the blocking. I'd like all of Act I blocked by the end of the month, so start to get in the mindset of your characters' physicality. How do they walk, how do they stand? Everything from their posture to the way they kiss." He looked pointedly at Shaggy and Velma, then clapped his hands once. "Dismissed. You may go. See you on Monday."

_Monday, _Shaggy thought, his stomach dropping to somewhere near his ankles.

He would have to grow a pair now, because in two days, he might be kissing Velma.

* * *

**Sponge: Thanks for reading. Hope y'all are ready for some Shelma in the next chapter! Review if you please!**


	4. Perfect For You

**Sponge: I have been so excited for this chapter. It's a little long, but I hope you all enjoy. Thank you for reading and reviewing. Warning: some language, and lots (and I mean LOTS) of Shelma kissing. Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Scooby Doo characters. They belong to Cartoon Network, Warner Brothers, and Hanna-Barbera. All dialogue that's in bold font comes directly from the **_**Next to Normal **_**script. All lyrics to the song "Perfect For You"****belong to Brian Yorkey.**

* * *

**Chapter 4: Perfect For You**

Monday dawned bright and early. Shaggy watched the sun peek through his drapes as his alarm went off and he groaned. Mondays were always torturous, but especially _this _Monday, since he wasn't sure what rehearsal would bring.

Scooby, who had been asleep at the foot of the bed, jolted awake at the alarm. He glanced up at Shaggy, who still had his head buried under his pillow. Shaggy, of course, had not told Scooby what was bothering him, and this was torturous in its own rite. Shaggy and Scooby were best friends. There wasn't a thing that one didn't know about the other.

Except this.

This attraction-or-whatever-it-was that Shaggy felt for Velma was by far the biggest – and only – secret he'd ever kept from his beloved pet. Shaggy wasn't sure that Scooby would understand. It had just been the two of them for years now. Besides, Shaggy wasn't even sure how to describe whatever this was. And Velma had said, on more than one occasion in no uncertain terms, that she was more attracted to the academically inclined. Shaggy wasn't a genius by any means, and regardless, he certainly didn't think Velma felt the same way about him as he did about her. Whatever that was.

Scooby, for his part, could tell that something was troubling Shaggy, but had no idea what it could be. Was it nerves about the play? Stress over the Ultimatum? Scooby had never told the rest of the gang about his conversation with Leesa – perhaps he should. If the gang had a mystery to solve, maybe Shaggy wouldn't be so worried about – whatever it was that worried him. Though, wouldn't solving a mystery give him just another thing to be concerned with?

"Norville Rogers!" The voice of Shaggy's mother sounded through the door, permeating both of their thoughts. "You'd better get out of bed right now or you'll be late for school, young man."

Shaggy groaned again and grasped his pillow. Maybe if he didn't acknowledge his worry, it would go away.

x.X.x

He needn't have worried, it turned out. That day, and the following in fact, rehearsal was spent in music practice. Several of Velma's band classmates had been chosen to be in what Daphne called "the pit orchestra," and her band instructor Mr. Harrison was the conductor. The whole cast ran through the opening number together, and continued working on multiple songs from the first part of Act I. Performers who had solos, like Daphne and Velma, were responsible for learning those songs themselves, so everything they did on Monday and Tuesday were the bigger numbers.

It wasn't until Wednesday that Shaggy's fears caught up with him.

"Dinkley, Rogers," Mr. Atwood said that afternoon, once he'd told the cast to "shut the hell up" as he normally did. "I think I'd like to rehearse 'Perfect For You' today."

Shaggy gulped. "Perfect For You" was the first love song, a duet between Henry and Natalie. At the end of it, the characters kissed for the first time. He dared a sideways glance at Velma, but she looked as cool as a cucumber.

"How well do you know the song?" Mr. Atwood asked them.

Shaggy actually knew the song quite well. He knew all his songs pretty well, in fact. He'd been listening to Henry's songs on repeat ever since he'd been cast in the role. At least that wasn't something he'd need to worry about.

"I'm very familiar with it," Velma replied. Of course she was.

"Like, me too," Shaggy mumbled.

"Great," said Mr. Atwood. To the others he called, "Actors, run lines together out in the house, please. Light and sound people, Beamer has a checklist of everything we'll need. We don't have a cue sheet yet, but this'll be a good place to start." He beckoned to Shaggy and Velma. "You two, come with me."

Daphne and Holden sat together to run their lines. Fred scowled as he watched them sit down together. Tony sat alone, going over his own lines by himself. Shaggy and Velma followed Mr. Atwood up to the stage. "Let's run the scene leading up to the song first," he said. "Are either of you off-book for this?"

Shaggy and Velma blinked uncomprehendingly at him.

"Do you have your lines memorized?" he clarified.

"Yes," Velma replied. Of course she did.

"Like, almost," Shaggy said. He reached into the pocket of his jeans - the script was thin enough that he could roll it into his back pocket - and read through the lines in his head.

The stage direction read, (_Henry and Natalie in his bedroom. He's packing the bowl of a big-ass bong.) _Shaggy had never used a bong before - only a marble pipe that his former buddy Brannen had given him back in California. He'd watched Brannen use one though, so he knew the basic mechanics.

"How do you want us to move?" Velma asked as Shaggy quickly skimmed through the lines.

Mr. Atwood shrugged. "Just do what feels natural right now. I'll let you know if I want you to change it. Though I think I'd like you to start out sitting on the floor."

Shaggy plopped down cross-legged on the ground, putting his script off to the side. Velma sat beside him, tucking her legs under her short red skirt. He tried not to stare there.

"Action," Mr. Atwood said, indicating that they should begin.

Velma had the first line. **"Your mom is like, in the next room,"** she said in a stage whisper.

Shaggy felt that Henry would shrug here, so he did. **"She's in denial - it's totally convenient." **As per the stage direction, he pretended to take a hit from the bong, and offered it to Velma/Natalie. In character, she just stared at him. **"Dude," **Shaggy/Henry said. **"It's therapeutic."**

**"Right," **Velma/Natalie replied with a skeptical nod. **"It's medical marijuana to treat your ADD."**

Shaggy/Henry took another "hit" from the pretend bong. **"Totally..." **He mimed offering it to her again. **"Huh?"**

Velma/Natalie shook her head. **"I don't put anything into my mouth that's on fire."**

**"I guess that's a good rule," **Shaggy/Henry replied. He couldn't remember what happened next, so he peeked at his script. The stage direction read, (_He goes to kiss her.)_

Shaggy gulped, all pretense gone. He wasn't Henry anymore. He was Shaggy, and he felt more terrified than he'd ever been. He glanced quickly at Mr. Atwood, who motioned for him to go on.

Shaggy leaned forward ever so slightly, but Velma was on her feet in an instant. He felt relief wash through him. He'd forgotten the next stage direction was, (_She pulls away abruptly.)_

_**"**_**Look," **Velma was Natalie again. _**"**_**I can't do this. Not with my life. I'm like one fuck-up from disaster."**

Shaggy tried to get back in character and also stood up, but he felt heat rise to his face with him. There was something about hearing Velma say _fuck _that got him a little riled and excited. This had happened at auditions too, when she'd sung "Everything Else." He tried to shake it from his mind.

**"Your life is not a disaster," **he told her. **"The environment is a disaster. Sprint is a disaster."**

**"You're stoned," **was her response. It was the final line before their song.

"Cut!" Mr. Atwood said. "Good start. I have a few notes, though. Let's try again."

They ran through the scene again and again, Mr. Atwood trying to get Shaggy to move closer in his attempted kiss each time. And each time, Shaggy got slightly closer, but not much.

Velma, for her part, felt just as nervous at the notion of kissing Shaggy, and admitted to herself that she always pulled away sooner than Mr. Atwood would probably have liked. For all her bravery in the face of monster-hunting, she was terrified of this. When she'd dated Tony Moretti back in ninth grade, they'd done a little kissing, but nothing serious. Her experience in this department was minimal, and only increased her nervousness.

"Cut," Mr. Atwood said again, after the fourth or fifth run. "It's looking good so far. But before we run the number, let's talk about the kiss at the end of the song."

Neither Shaggy nor Velma looked at each other, though both of their faces were burning.

From the house, Daphne heard the word "kiss," and looked up immediately. Ever since they'd all been cast in this show, Daphne was dying to be there for the first time Velma and Shaggy kissed. She started to move closer to the stage.

"Where are you going?" asked Holden, who was still rehearsing lines with her.

She beckoned with her head. "Come on!"

Holden rolled his eyes and followed her. Fred, who hadn't taken his eyes off Daphne and Holden since they'd sat down, crept behind them, and Tony moved forward as well. Scooby and Leesa turned their heads towards the stage with the others.

"In my experience," Mr. Atwood was saying, "the first time actors kiss, there's always some nerves and awkwardness involved, and it's best to just get that first one over with." He gestured to them. "So go ahead."

Shaggy's head shot up and he stared at Mr. Atwood. "What, like, now?"

"Yes, now." Mr. Atwood gestured again. "Go on."

Shaggy glanced out at the house. All of the actors had stopped what they were doing to watch. Heat rose to Shaggy's face, and a quick look at Velma told him that a blush had stained her cheeks as well. He gulped. Was Mr. Atwood crazy, making him kiss her in front of everyone? True, he would be kissing her in front of an entire audience eventually, but this was a lot of pressure. What if he messed it up somehow?

_You're like, psyching yourself out for no reason, man, _he told himself. He had kissed a few girls back in California. That had turned out fine. So would this.

Shaggy took a deep breath, leaned in, and placed a quick and careful kiss on Velma's lips.

It was over so fast, she didn't even have time to react.

Mr. Atwood frowned. "Rogers, what the hell was that?"

This elicited a few snickers from the cast and crew in the house, and Shaggy's face burned hotter. All he could do was shrug and look down.

Mr. Atwood sighed. "It's okay. Like I said, there are always nerves involved. Let's try to get into the mindset of the characters. Look at me." Shaggy did. "Now, look at her." Shaggy cast his gaze at Velma, who didn't quite meet his eyes, her cheeks faintly pink as she bit down on her lower lip. Shaggy's heart pounded.

"Remember," Mr. Atwood said. "To Henry, Natalie is the most beautiful girl in the world. All he wants in this moment is to kiss her, and convince her that they should be together."

Neither Shaggy nor Velma said anything, both still too embarrassed.

Mr. Atwood finally noticed the students in the house. "And all you pseudo-voyeurs aren't helping, you know."

"Rorry," came Scooby's voice. Truthfully, Scooby didn't feel one way or another about Shaggy's and Velma's kiss just now. His concern was with how embarrassed Shaggy had seemed by it.

Mr. Atwood sighed again. "Walsh," he called out to the house. "When you and Beamer were in _The Crucible _last spring, how did you improve your onstage chemistry?"

Holden stood up and walked closer to the stage so he wouldn't have to shout. "We'd sit in the practice room for a few minutes before and after rehearsal, just shooting the shit. Talking like that helped us let our guard down with each other."

"How long would you do that?" asked Mr. Atwood.

Leesa spoke up then. "No more than five or ten minutes. But it did wonders to help us feel more comfortable together." The two of them fist-bumped, as if to prove a point.

Mr. Atwood nodded. "All right then. Jones, Blake, and Walsh, come on up here so we can block the scene between 'Perfect for You' and 'I Miss the Mountains.' Beamer, can you help Moretti with the 'Who's Crazy' dance? Out in the hallway, please."

"Sure," Leesa nodded once, and she and Tony headed out into the hallway.

Fred, Daphne, and Holden climbed up to the stage as Mr. Atwood turned to face Shaggy and Velma.

"You two," he said. "I know you're close friends already, but I think that may be the problem. I think it might be making it awkward for you two to be physical. Give yourselves ten minutes or so in a practice room to talk to each other and try to get past the awkwardness. Then we'll try the song and the kiss again afterwards." He shooed them off and turned towards Fred, Daphne, and Holden. Shaggy and Velma took that as their cue to leave.

The entire walk to the practice room was silent, and once they arrived and shut the door behind them, it didn't get any better. They wasted a solid two minutes standing next to each other staring at the clock that hung above the piano as they leaned against a wall.

Velma cast wildly about in her mind for something to say. She felt just as awkward about this as Shaggy did, though she admitted to herself that a small part of her had felt a little excited as he leaned in for the kiss. But it was so awkward, and quick. He clearly hadn't wanted to do it.

_Well, _Velma thought to herself. _He's going to have to do it, regardless. And I have to figure out a way to get him there. _She steeled herself, and turned to face him.

"Look," she said, mustering up all the bravado she could manage. "You want this play to be successful, right?"

Shaggy looked up and blinked at her. "Like, of course."

"Then we both have to get through the awkwardness," she said. "I think Mr. Atwood is wrong. I don't think our friendship is a hindrance. We can probably use it to our advantage. The problem is –" Velma broke off and looked away. "The problem is the physicality of it."

Shaggy didn't understand. "Like, what do you mean?"

"We're already comfortable with each other as friends," Velma said. "That's not the thing we need to work on. We need to work on…the physical contact."

Now he understood. "Are you saying we should like…_practice _kissing?"

Velma's face flamed, but she kept going. "It's the only thing I can think of to get us over this hurdle."

Shaggy felt a blush of his own creep up his neck. In theory, it made sense. And she was right – the only way out was through. So he nodded. "Like, okay," he said in a whisper.

Nothing happened for a few more moments. Then Velma turned to face him. She stood on her toes and shut her eyes. She was close enough that Shaggy could have counted the freckles on her cheeks. In another moment, their lips met.

Shaggy was surprised by the feel of her lips on his – how soft and warm they were. He hadn't noticed before. That first kiss had been so short. But this one lingered and traveled all the way down his spine. He closed his eyes in turn and kissed her back.

She broke away briefly to gasp in a breath of air, then kissed him again. When she did, the kissing became ardent. Shaggy responded in kind, placing his hands on her waist and bringing her as close to him as possible. Maybe it was because they were alone now, away from the prying eyes of their fellow actors and crew members. Whatever it was, it was much preferable to kiss her here.

Somehow their mouths opened against each other, and that first taste made Shaggy feel dizzy. This was far beyond his (admittedly limited) kissing experience, but it seemed as though his tongue automatically knew what to do. He let instinct take over as he grasped her waist tighter.

Velma, for her part, felt as though she was on sensory overload. His scent, his taste, the feel of his mouth on hers drove every other thought out of her head. This was nothing at all like the kissing she and Tony had done. Everything about this was intoxicating, more so than when she'd accidentally had too much to drink at Brandon Michaels' party last winter. And kissing Shaggy was much more pleasant than that had been.

When they broke apart minutes later, they were surprised with the position in which they found themselves. Shaggy's back was up against the wall, his hands still gripping Velma's waist. Velma's fingers had curled into fists around the fabric at the front of Shaggy's shirt.

"Jinkies," she whispered. "I uh…I guess we probably won't be able to do that in rehearsal."

Shaggy shook his head, feeling breathless. "Like, no," he replied once he found his voice. "I guess not."

Velma glanced at the clock. "We still have some time left." She looked away. "Should we…?"

"Keep going? Like yes." Shaggy's response was immediate.

Velma's eyes widened in surprise. "Really? You want to?"

"Absolutely." There was nothing Shaggy wanted more in the world right now than to kiss Velma Dinkley over and over and over again. He didn't even want a snack that much right now. This realization overcame him, and he dipped his head down to initiate the kiss.

This one was even more passionate, and now that they were both over their nerves, they were braver. Velma wrapped both her arms around Shaggy's neck. Shaggy's hands moved down to Velma's hips. Their breathing came in hot and heavy as they grasped at each other and kissed open-mouthed. Velma tugged lightly at Shaggy's hair, and he gripped her tighter. He gently bit Velma's lower lip and she felt her knees go weak.

Again, minutes later, they broke apart to breathe and looked at the clock.

"Zoinks!" Shaggy muttered when he saw the time. "We have to like, go back to rehearsal."

He felt disappointed, and he heard it in his voice. Could Velma hear it too?

Her face betrayed no emotion, but he thought he detected a wistful sigh as she said, "You're right. Let's go."

x.X.x

Once they were back in the auditorium, Mr. Atwood brought them onstage. They had an audience again, but Shaggy didn't feel quite as awkward about the other actors watching this time.

They ran through the scene again – this time, during the attempted kiss, Velma let Shaggy get close enough to graze her cheek before she pulled away. The pit orchestra started up the opening notes for their song, and Shaggy began to sing.

"_Our planet is poisoned, the oceans, the air,_

_Around and beneath and above you."_

Velma, as Natalie, tried to convey incomprehension at this. _"Um, Henry that's true, and I totally care…"_

Shaggy/Henry: _"I'm trying to tell you, I love you."_

Shaggy had never actually said these words to a girl before, at least in a romantic context. Velma/Natalie reacted the way he would have expected if he were to confess something like this.

Velma/Natalie_:_ _"What?"_

Shaggy/Henry continued. _"The world is at war, filled with death and disease –_

_We dance on the edge of destruction._

_The globe's getting warmer by deadly degrees – "_

Velma/Natalie interrupted. _"And this is one fucked-up seduction."_

There it was again, the heat that invaded his body when Velma said "fuck." He tried to ignore it.

Shaggy/Henry:_ "This planet is pretty much broken beyond all repair…_

_But one thing is working_

_If you're standing there._

_Perfect for you…_

_I could be perfect for you_

_I might be lazy, a loner_

_A bit of a stoner – it's true_

_But I might be perfect – _

_I'll make myself perfect…_

_Perfect for you."_

Velma couldn't help but feel a little taken in by the words. Was it just because they'd been kissing moments ago? And she knew that moments from now, at the end of the song, they'd be kissing again? Was everything she felt just physical? She tried to concentrate.

Shaggy/Henry was still singing. _"You square all the corners, I straighten the curves."_

Velma/Natalie sang back. _"You've got some nerve Henry, and I'm just all nerves." _Truer words had never been spoken. Or sung.

Shaggy/Henry again. _"But even if everything else turns to dirt."_

And then, both of them together, _"We'll be the one thing in this world that won't hurt."_

Shaggy felt that Henry would take Natalie's hands here, so he did. Or was that just Shaggy wanting to take Velma's hands? He tried not to think about it too hard.

"_I can't fix what's fucked up," _he sang. _"But one thing I know I can do…_

_I can be perfect for you."_

Velma/Natalie:_ "I can be perfect for you."_

Together again: _"Perfect for you…"_

As the last notes of the song faded out, Shaggy and Velma came together. This kiss was different from the ones they'd just shared in the practice room – gentler, and much more careful. But the feeling of her lips on his sent a jolt through Shaggy's spine nonetheless.

"Cut!" Mr. Atwood's voice interrupted the moment and they broke apart. He was grinning at them. "That was MUCH better you two."

The students in the audience applauded.

"You look hot when you kiss!" Holden called out. Daphne, who sat nearby, elbowed him in the side, but she was grinning. She glanced over at Fred, who was already looking her way. He smiled tiredly when she caught his eye. Scooby sat by Leesa and furrowed his brow. Something about that kiss had been different from the short one Shaggy and Velma had had earlier, and it confused Scooby.

Shaggy couldn't help but cast a shy grin Velma's way. She smiled back at him, and he felt his heart somersault.

"I think that time in the practice room was just what you needed," Leesa told them. "Maybe you should chat in there every day, before and after rehearsal? Just for like five minutes or so."

Well...there hadn't been a whole lot of chatting going on. But Shaggy was not about to say no to more alone time with Velma, especially if there would be more kissing involved.

He looked at her, suddenly self-conscious of her response. "What do you say, Velm?"

"I say sure," she replied. She maintained a nonchalant facade, but inside she was doing a frantic dance of joy. They had basically just _prescribed _her and Shaggy to kiss. Not that any of them knew that, of course.

"Let's keep going with the scene," Mr. Atwood said. Shaggy felt excitement pump through his heart - there was a lot of kissing in this scene that followed their duet. Daphne, Holden, and Fred, who were all part of the scene, headed up to the stage. Once they'd assembled and were ready to begin, Mr. Atwood called, "Action!"

Shaggy had the first line after the end of the song. They were meant to be standing on the porch of the Goodman home but since the set hadn't been built yet, they just stayed where they were. **"Nice house. Can I come in?"**

Velma/Natalie looked aghast. **"Oh my, no."**

Shaggy/Henry chuckled and shrugged. **"Okay."**

He leaned in for another kiss. Their lips moved together through the entire conversation Holden/Gabe and Daphne/Diana had, and they only barely paid attention, too focused on each other to do much else. He held her face close to his as she gripped his shoulder for support.

Holden/Gabe approached Daphne/Diana, who was standing where she imagined a window would be once the set was built. **"Are you spying on your own daughter?" **he asked.

Daphne/Diana seemed astonished. **"When did she get a boyfriend? How did I miss this?"**

Holden/Gabe shrugged. **"Well...you kind of miss a lot."**

Daphne/Diana continued to stare at Velma/Natalie and Shaggy/Henry. Daphne came out of character for a moment to appreciate how good they looked together. How excellent their chemistry was. Holden was right - their kissing _was _pretty hot. **"Do you think they're in love?" **she asked Holden/Gabe, back in the moment.

He shrugged again before exiting. **"Who knows? They're young, they're horny...it happens."**

Daphne understood that for sure. That's how it happened with her and Fred. She knew she loved him, but she hadn't told him yet.

Fred entered then, as Dan, in a flashback. **"Marry me," **he said to Daphne/Diana.

Daphne/Diana blinked at him. **"What?"**

Fred/Dan held his script out in front of him so he could get the lines exactly right. Because of this, he was not looking at Daphne when he said, **"Marry me. Let's have a family. I know, we're too young, but we're not, I'm almost twenty-two, and how do you know this isn't a sign saying we belong together?"**

Out of the corner of her eye, Daphne noticed Shaggy and Velma still kissing. Damn, they were committed. _Velma must be on cloud nine, _Daphne thought. She knew that Velma had had a crush on Shaggy since last year, and she was dying to talk to her about all this. But first they had to finish this scene. She turned back to Fred/Dan. **"How do you know it's not a sign saying to get new rubbers?"**

Now Fred/Dan looked up briefly at Daphne/Diana when he said, **"Because I know it's not. I love you, and this baby –"**

Daphne felt her heart climb into her throat. She knew that it was Dan saying it to Diana, not Fred saying it to her, but it didn't matter. Maybe it was watching her best friend kiss her long time crush. Maybe it was the romantic song she'd just listened to them sing. Maybe it was the dialogue she and Fred were sharing right now. Whatever it was, it convinced her. She was ready to tell Fred she loved him.

**"Dan," **she said, as Diana again. **"This is crazy."**

At the same time, Velma/Natalie finally broke apart from Shaggy/Henry to say the same thing. **"This is crazy."**

Shaggy/Henry and Fred/Dan said, in unison, **"Maybe it is."**

Fred/Dan exited. Upon hearing Shaggy/Henry, Daphne/Diana turned back to watch him caress Velma/Natalie's cheek with his thumb, and kiss her one last time. It seemed to Daphne that this final kiss lingered, and it only stopped because Mr. Atwood called "Cut!"

At the end of rehearsal, Mr. Atwood gave notes and dismissed everyone. "Great work today, overall. It's really starting to come together. See you tomorrow."

"You guys go on ahead to your post-rehearsal bonding," Leesa told Velma and Shaggy. "Scooby and I will clean up a bit." Shaggy nodded and avoided eye contact with Scooby, which puzzled the dog further.

"And I'll bring the Mystery Machine around," Fred said. It was parked in the student lot. Fred looked tired, but he smiled at Daphne nonetheless and reached out his hand for hers. "Coming, Daph?"

She smiled radiantly at him. "Of course." She took his hand and they walked outside together. Scooby and Leesa stayed behind to help Corinne Faulkner and her team put the props away. Scooby tried to clear his mind of his confusion and made a mental note that he needed to find something they could use as a bong for Shaggy's scene. Maybe Corinne could help him out with that.

Shaggy and Velma headed down the hallway for the practice room. Velma felt suddenly jittery with nerves again. Was Shaggy as into this as she was? She somehow doubted that. Of course, she couldn't read his mind.

Shaggy _was _nervous, but it reminded him of the nerves that accompanied him when he was about to run a track meet. Something he was excited to do, but worried about messing up somehow.

When they arrived at the practice room, though, their nerves caught up to them and neither one made a move. They simply stood a few feet apart, grinning shyly at each other.

"So..." Velma spoke first.

"Like...yeah," Shaggy replied.

"I guess our time in here earlier did help, huh?"

"Like, yeah." Goddamn, could he say anything else? _Come on, man, _he shook himself mentally. _Like, get your head in the game. _

"They don't know," Velma said after a moment.

"Huh?"

"Mr. Atwood and Leesa and everyone. They think all we did earlier was talk. They don't know..." She broke off, embarrassed. "They don't know what really happened in here."

A silent thrill went through Shaggy. She was right. None of them had any idea.

"It's like...kind of exciting," he said. "Keeping it secret from everyone."

"It is," Velma agreed.

"Like for all they know," he said, taking a seemingly involuntary step toward her, "We could be talking right now."

"We are talking," Velma reminded him, drawing slightly closer.

"Should we like...keep talking then?" Shaggy felt a smirk creep up the side of his mouth.

Velma had a flirtatious glint in her eye. "No, I don't think that's necessary."

Were they flirting? Shaggy couldn't remember the last time he'd flirted with a girl. But Velma seemed into it, and dammit, so was he.

"So like, what should we do instead?" he asked in a whisper. The words were barely out before Velma closed the distance between them with a kiss so fiery that Shaggy's knees buckled a little. Every time they kissed, it seemed, was better than the last time. He pushed her up against the wall, one arm braced next to her head, the other curled around her hips.

Velma's arms had wrapped around Shaggy's torso and her hands grasped the back of his shirt. Fistfuls of green fabric curled into her hands as she tried to bring him closer than he already was.

Shaggy's left arm abandoned the wall and curled around Velma's petite shoulders, pulling the upper half of her body into a passionate embrace. Her teeth gently nibbled on his lower lip and his breath hitched when he opened his mouth and felt her tongue slip inside. Their breathing became more heavy, their kissing more urgent. The passion that engulfed them surprised them both as they gave in to each other over and over again.

And then there was a knock on the door.

They broke apart quickly and whirled around in the direction of the door. It hadn't opened, but Daphne's voice sounded through it.

"You guys in there?" she called. "We're here with the Mystery Machine!"

"Ready to go when you are!" Fred said.

"Rye'm rungry!" came Scooby's voice.

Shaggy and Velma glanced at each other. They had jumped quite far apart, so even if someone had entered the room it would be hard to tell that they'd just been kissing. Apart from the fact that Velma's glasses were slightly askew and the back of her hair was a little messy from being pushed up against the wall.

"All right," Velma replied. "We're ready too."

"Like hold on," he murmured, beckoning her to come to him. He fixed her glasses and had her comb her fingers through her hair. She fixed his shirt - it was a little mussed - and smiled at him.

"Thank you," she whispered. She looked as if she wanted to kiss him again. Shaggy wanted to kiss her too, but their friends were right outside, and he did not want them to know about this. So he stepped back and headed for the door.

"So uh...like, you coming?" He turned back to look at her. She looked...discouraged.

"Yep," she replied. "I'm right behind you."

* * *

**Sponge: PHEW I'm so glad I was able to finally write this chapter. I've had those practice room scenes in my head for YEARS. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Review if you please!**


	5. You Don't Know

**Sponge: Welcome back, everybody! Thanks for reading and reviewing. It's another long chapter, but I hope you enjoy. Warning: Language and more make-out sessions, both Shelma and Fraphne this time, as well as some slightly graphic Fraphne romance. Also, there are discussions of a rather sexual nature. Please read at your own risk. This is the LAST chapter that will let the fic get by being rated T, so you have been warned! Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Scooby Doo characters. They belong to Cartoon Network, Warner Brothers, and Hanna-Barbera.**

* * *

**Chapter 5: You Don't Know**

It wasn't often that Daphne and Velma had a Skype date of their own. Indeed, the last time it had happened was last winter, when Daphne had confessed to Velma that she was in love with Fred. Daphne felt it fitting to have another Skype session with just the girls to let Velma know she was ready to tell Fred this fact.

She was definitely ready. Right?

Daphne knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that she was in love with Fred Jones. She had known it for a very long time. So after Fred had dropped Daphne off at her house (she was always the last one he took home so they could occasionally have some alone time in the Mystery Machine), she had texted Velma to log onto Skype after dinner.

Daphne now sat at her desk, working on her math homework when Velma logged on.

"Hey, Daph," Velma said as her face appeared in the computer screen. "Geometry?" She inclined her head towards Daphne's open textbook.

Daphne grinned and shut the book. "Yeah, I was just working on it while I waited for you."

"Your text sounded serious," Velma said. "Is everything okay? With…your parents?"

Daphne's chest tightened. Velma was the only one in the gang who knew that Daphne's parents were having marital troubles. Daphne had discovered her father sleeping in his office over the summer, and she'd noticed that her parents didn't talk to each other as much. Indeed, dinner tonight had been a rather silent affair.

"Yeah," Daphne said, waving her hand nonchalantly. She didn't want to think about her parents. "This doesn't have anything to do with that. I wanted to talk about something totally unrelated and not very Bechdel-test friendly."

Velma knew this meant they were about to talk about Fred. "Okay," she said, leaning forward in concentration.

Daphne took a deep breath. "I think I'm ready to tell Freddie that I love him."

"Jinkies!" Velma gasped. "Daph, I'm really excited for you...but is he ready to hear it?"

Daphne frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well..." Velma considered her response. "Would he reciprocate? If you told him you loved him, do you think he'd say it back?"

Daphne furrowed her brow. "I _think _he would," she replied. "But boys are funny like that, you know? Sometimes they can be so emotionally obtuse. Like how before we got together, he wouldn't even realize when girls like Adrienne Maxim and Maureen Fischer were throwing themselves at him! Or like after we started dating and we watched _The Notebook_ and he didn't understand why it made me cry!" Daphne chuckled at the memory. "But I think it's time. I mean we've been dating for almost eight months now. Don't people usually say 'I love you' by then? I've heard seven months is the right time." Daphne knew she was babbling, and her gaze had wandered around as she spoke, but now she looked back at her webcam and saw that Velma wasn't looking at her either. Instead, she was looking down into her lap, as if she was reading a book.

"What are you doing?"

Velma's head snapped up. "What? Nothing, I'm sorry. Um, I don't know about the seven month thing."

"Red and I said 'I love you' at seven months," Daphne remarked ruefully. "Not that I really meant what I was saying."

Velma sighed. Sometimes she forgot that Daphne and Red Herring had gone out in ninth grade. "Well, Tony and I never said it, and we dated for almost exactly seven months. Then again, what we had wasn't nearly as serious as what you and Fred have."

Daphne snorted. "Well, everyone was so young back then. Especially you." Daphne was referring to the fact that Velma was about a year younger than most of her classmates, due to how she'd skipped a grade in elementary school. "If you and Tony were doing the kinds of things that Fred and I have been doing, I would be worried."

That got Velma's attention. She fixed the redhead with an unblinking stare. "Daphne...how far have you and Fred gone?"

Daphne felt her face go pink. She hadn't meant for that to slip out. "Um..." she hedged.

Velma widened her eyes in astonishment. "Tell me!" she hissed.

"Uh...below the shirt, below the underwear," Daphne said in a rush. "But _just barely!_"

Velma shrieked, then clapped her hands over her mouth. She glanced over at her door to make sure her parents weren't coming. When nothing happened, she turned back around and faced Daphne through the computer. "Spill!"

"There's not really a whole lot to spill," Daphne insisted. "Just that sometimes, when we're solving a mystery and we split up to search for clues, we'll go somewhere private and...fool around a little."

Velma's eyebrows shot up. "And what exactly does that mean?"

Daphne's face went fully scarlet now. "It means he's seen my boobs and I've touched his..." she broke off, too embarrassed to say the word. "You know." She glanced down with her eyes.

"But you haven't seen it?"

"No!" Daphne shook her head emphatically.

"But do you want to?"

Daphne considered this for a full minute. "I don't know," she replied truthfully. "I hadn't really thought about it. Maybe? Honestly, the most thought I've put into the future of our relationship is telling him I love him. Watching you and Shaggy sing that song at rehearsal today really made up my mind for me, actually," Daphne admitted.

Now it was Velma's turn to flush pink. "Uh...what do you mean?"

"That song! 'Perfect For You,'" Daphne cried. "Ugh it's so romantic I could cry! And you guys did a great job! Holden was right - that was a good-looking kiss." Daphne's eyes gleamed as she got ready to ask the next question. " So how was it?"

Velma played dumb. "Um...how was what?"

"The kiss, silly! I know you've been crushing on Shaggy since last year - it must have been so thrilling for you to finally kiss him! Even if it is just for the stage. But still! Tell me all about it! How was it?"

"Uh..." Velma hedged. "It was...nice." Her eyes fell on her phone, which was in her lap. She held it up for Daphne to see. "Oh jinkies, look at the time, it's awfully late. We should go to sleep now, school in the morning, you know. G'night, Daph! I'm really glad that you're going to tell Fred you love him and maybe have sex!"

With that, Daphne's screen went blank as Velma logged off.

Daphne stared at her computer, dumbfounded. Why had Velma been so reluctant to talk about her kiss with Shaggy? And what had she been doing when she hadn't been paying attention earlier?

x.X.x

What Velma had been doing was texting.

**Velma: Hey.**

**Shaggy: hey**

**Shaggy: lol don't we have a song in the play that starts out like that?**

**Velma: Haha yeah, we do. Three of them in fact.**

**Velma: So...about tomorrow...**

At this, Shaggy had typed for a long time. Velma waited with bated breath. Damn those pesky gray dots!

**Shaggy: like yeah?**

Velma had rolled her eyes. Boys were truly an entirely different species.

**Velma: You wanna keep up the practice room thing?**

**Shaggy: definitely. **

**Shaggy: as long as you still wanna...?**

**Velma: Oh absolutely. Just trying to figure out logistics.**

**Velma: I'll snag the practice room right after 7th period so you can just meet me there when you come downstairs.**

**Shaggy: alrighty like, sounds good.**

**Shaggy: like what do I do about Scoob?**

**Velma: Just drop him at the auditorium on your way. And tell him that you and I are bonding.**

**Shaggy: lol**

**Velma: What, do you think he'll see through that?**

**Shaggy: no i like, just think it's funny that you call it 'bonding.'**

**Velma: Well that's what Leesa called it. What would you call it?**

**Shaggy: ...i guess i dunno**

**Velma: Well, I'll see you in class and at rehearsal tomorrow.**

**Shaggy: right. to "bond"**

**Velma: Haha. Good night, Shaggy**

**Shaggy: Night, Velm.**

Now, Velma took her glasses off and climbed into bed. She couldn't stop thinking about her time in the practice room with Shaggy this afternoon. Every time she closed her eyes, she felt his lips on hers and his hands on her waist. She knew she liked him, though the fact that they had gotten so physical so quickly had surprised even her. But now, all she wanted was to be back in that room with him. She also couldn't help thinking about everything Daphne had told her on Skype, about how far she had gone with Fred. Would Velma ever get to that point with Shaggy?

And, more importantly: did she want to?

x.X.x

Unlike Monday, which had gone by inexplicably fast for Shaggy, Thursday classes dragged. Wasn't that always how it went? When you dreaded something, time flew by, and when you were looking forward to something, time slowed down. He still had jitters when he thought about kissing Velma, but they were excited jitters.

When the final bell rang at last, he bolted from the art classroom, Scooby in tow.

"Rhy rhe rush, Raggy?" he panted as he followed him down the stairs.

"Uh, like...you know, just don't wanna be late for rehearsal." This at least was true. When they reached the auditorium, Shaggy headed for the music hallway. "Like you go ahead Scooby Doo, I have to do that bonding thing with Velma." He smiled to himself about their private joke.

"Rokay," Scooby waved. "Rye'll ret roo rin rive rinutes!"

Five minutes. Not nearly enough time. Shaggy walked faster.

Velma was already in the practice room, as she said she'd be, when he arrived. She stood on the far side, against the wall perpendicular to the piano, and watched as Shaggy entered, closed the door, and locked it behind him. Velma's mouth went dry. They hadn't locked the door yesterday. Something about it seemed to make this much more intimate.

There was a beat as both of them let the action hang in the air. Then, in two strides, Shaggy reached her, cupped her face in his hands, and kissed her hard on the mouth.

The dizzying sensation was back, and overtook him almost immediately. Her fingers tugged at the fabric of his shirt, pulling him closer to her. His hands still cupped her face, and he used his thumbs to caress her cheeks. Shaggy felt his heart pound as adrenaline coursed through his veins. Their tongues tangled together, and Shaggy's hands moved lower down Velma's body - past her shoulders and her chest (Shaggy felt a jolt go through him as his fingers grazed _that _particular part of her body), past her waist, all the way down to her slender hips. It was so easy to pull her closer to him from there, and her hips fit so neatly into his hands.

When Velma came up for air, she was so overcome with desire that she moved from kissing his mouth and instead kissed along his cheek, his jawbone, his ear...

Shaggy's breath caught, and he grabbed fistfuls of her orange sweater in passion. How the _fuck _did this feel so good? It felt like every single of one of his nerves was on fire, every fiber of his being was aware of her. She smelled of vanilla and cinnamon, a tantalizing odor that was almost addictive. Her hands had moved up towards the nape of his neck and tugged lightly at his hair. Shaggy had to stifle a moan. How was she _doing _this to him? Was she feeling everything he was feeling? Was she having trouble staying quiet as well?

As soon as Shaggy started thinking of ways he could cause Velma to make some noise - and places he could touch her or kiss her to elicit that reaction - he felt a tightening in the lower region of his body. _Shit! _he thought wildly. This wasn't the first time he'd gotten aroused while kissing a girl – it had happened once or twice back in California – but this was the first time he was pressed up close enough to one that she might actually notice. He was afraid to move his legs, just in case Velma felt it. But she was kissing his neck now, and _damn _it felt so amazing, it was hard for him to concentrate on anything else.

Velma, for her part, did notice it. She had shifted slightly against him as she moved down his jaw to his neck, and she felt the slight firmness against her thigh. Her heart stuttered. _She _had done that. _She _had turned Shaggy on. Frumpy, mousy, geeky Velma Dinkley, had aroused someone – a guy. She would never have thought she had that power. She felt elated. She felt...sexy.

Did Shaggy find her sexy?

As he held her flush against him, Shaggy wondered if they should maybe try to slow things down. He was slightly embarrassed, but not so much that he wanted to stop altogether. He just wanted his body to calm down a little. But then Velma made a noise against his neck - a sigh, or a soft moan - and Shaggy felt himself come undone. In a fit of passion, he whirled her around and instinctively grabbed the backs of her thighs, just below her red skirt, and hoisted her up until she was sitting on top of the piano. He was glad the lid was closed, otherwise there would have been a loud and rather inharmonious sound from the piano keys.

Velma made a small noise of surprise in response to Shaggy, but she kept her arms around him. One quick kiss on the lips, and he dipped his head down to the side of her neck, pulling the orange cowl away for easier access as she gasped and shuddered under his touch. Desire rose from somewhere deep in his stomach as Shaggy kissed her neck hungrily, needily, then moved his head upward to nibble her earlobe.

Her reaction! She maintained a tight grip on his shoulders as she gasped sharply. Her arms wrapped around him more tightly, and he felt himself grow harder.

"Shaggy," she whispered into his ear.

_Fuck. _Shaggy's own breathing hitched as his name left Velma's lips. So much was happening. He didn't know if he could handle much more.

_RATTLE RATTLE_

The sound of someone attempting to open the door caused them to detach in a hurry. Both turned towards the door as whoever had tried to open it knocked.

"Who is it?" Velma found her voice first, though she still sounded breathless.

"Rit's re!" came Scooby Doo's voice. "Rit's rime ror rehearsal!"

Shaggy's mouth went dry and he tried to swallow. _Like, what would have happened if Scoob had walked in on us?!_

Shaggy cleared his throat and spoke in a rasp. "Like okay buddy," he called. "We'll be right there."

Scooby's footsteps padded down the hall and Shaggy and Velma reluctantly disentangled themselves. She walked towards the door but stopped short when she noticed Shaggy wasn't following.

"You coming?" she asked as she unlocked the door.

"You go ahead," he told her. "I like...need a minute." He blushed and glanced away from her. At least it wasn't super visible, but he still wanted to calm down before he went anywhere public.

"Oh!" Velma went pink with understanding. "Sure thing. I'll uh...I'll tell everyone you went to the restroom." She bit her lip (it did not help) and went to open the door. However, she turned around again before she even touched the handle.

"Should we talk about this?" she asked.

Shaggy looked away again and feigned ignorance. "Uh...like talk about what?"

"This." Velma gestured between them, the expanse that separated them seemingly wider than before. "Us."

Heat rushed up Shaggy's neck and colored his face. He shrugged. "Like, what's to talk about?" For some reason, hearing Velma describe them as an 'us' made him inexplicably nervous.

Velma started to say something, then shook her head, apparently losing her nerve. "Never mind. It's not important." She grinned at him. "I'll uh...I'll see you in there." She jerked her head in the direction of the auditorium, gave him a brief wave, and closed the door behind her as she left.

Shaggy sighed and leaned his head against the wall. He tried fill his mind with baseball and wrinkly old men and all the inherently un-sexy things he could think of. Anything to drown out the sound of Velma's sweet voice quietly moaning his name.

x.X.x

They continued working on blocking throughout the remainder of the week, and on into the next. Shaggy and Velma had drastically improved their chemistry from that first disastrous attempt at a kiss, and they both knew it was their escapades in the practice room that helped them overcome that barrier. They continued to meet both before and after rehearsal, but Velma never again brought up their mutual passion for each other.

Daphne and Holden were off book for all of Act I by the following Tuesday, with Velma, Shaggy, and Tony not far behind. Fred, however, was still having trouble.

"Line," he called on Tuesday for the umpteenth time.

Mr. Atwood took a deep breath as though to calm himself. Scooby put his paws over his eyes and groaned. Leesa glanced at the script.

"I know you're hurting. I am too," she read to him.

Fred's face went scarlet. This was not the first time he'd missed that line. "Right, right. Sorry."

"Again," Mr. Atwood sighed. "From the top."

They were rehearsing the scene before Daphne/Diana's song "You Don't Know." In the scene, Daphne/Diana admits to Dan/Fred that she hasn't been taking her medication, and thus has been hallucinating their dead son. No one else was in the scene, Velma/Natalie and Shaggy/Henry having exited only moments before, but Holden/Gabe waited in the wings to make an entrance during the following song, "I Am the One."

Velma and Shaggy now sat in the house with Tony, and they all grimaced at each other.

Daphne pulled Fred aside as they reset the scene. "Babe," she murmured to him. "It's okay. I know you can do this."

Fred glanced over her shoulder at Holden, who shrugged at him. Fred gritted his teeth. There was something about Holden that made him feel angry. Was it the fact that most of Daphne's rehearsals were spent running scenes with him? Was it that comment he'd made at the interest meeting about being technically married to her because of the musical the previous year? Whatever it was, he couldn't stand the sight of him.

He huffed out a sigh, then turned back to begin the scene again.

After rehearsal that day (which hadn't gone very well for Fred), Scooby and Leesa held a brief production meeting with Travis Brown and Addie Wong about various lighting and sound effects they might need during the production. Tony headed home, muttering his lyrics in the song "Make Up Your Mind" under his breath as he went. Shaggy and Velma went down the hall for their post-rehearsal bonding. Fred and Daphne left out the main entrance of the school to retrieve the Mystery Machine from the student parking lot, but annoyingly, Holden walked there with them on the way to his car. Even more annoyingly, he monopolized Daphne's time by sucking her into a deep discussion about their characters' motivations, which honestly, Fred didn't really understand.

"Diana misses her son," Daphne was saying. "She even alludes to the fact that Natalie is basically just a replacement child. Which is interesting, given the fact that Gabe wasn't planned and Natalie was."

"Right," Holden agreed, "but I think we need to go deeper than that. Is Gabe here for Diana, or for Dan?"

Upon hearing his character's name, Fred shot a sideways glance at the two of them.

"Diana at least acknowledges Gabe's existence in their lives," Holden continued. "Dan is totally in denial. He'd sooner forget he'd even had a son, because the memory of him is so painful for his wife. All he wants is for Diana to forget about the past and for Gabe to go away."

Well, at least that part was true. Fred wanted _Holden _to go away, at the very least.

"But the memory of Gabe is painful for Dan, too," Daphne argued. "That's why he doesn't even acknowledge him until the end of the play. Diana's mental illness just causes him to manifest larger than life in her head."

"What do you think, Freddie?" Holden asked. "What do you think your motivations are?"

They had reached the Mystery Machine by this point, and Fred opened the drivers' side door. "Well, right now my motivation is to go home." He couldn't help the terseness in his tone.

Holden took the hint. "Got it," he said. He grinned at Daphne. "See you tomorrow." With a wave, he continued past them towards his own car.

Daphne climbed in the passenger's side. "Fred, what was that all about?"

"What?" Fred drove out of the student lot towards the front of the school.

"You were so rude to Holden just now," Daphne replied. "That's not like you. What's going on?"

"What?" Fred said again as he parked. "Am I not allowed to be annoyed that he takes over your time both during and after rehearsal, and the only time I get to talk to you is when I'm messing up my lines?"

Daphne blinked, taken aback. "Freddie...are you jealous of Holden?"

"No," Fred replied petulantly, in a way that Daphne knew meant "yes." He didn't look at her, even though he had parked the van.

Daphne sighed and put a hand on his arm. "Freddie, Holden and I are just good friends," she promised. "We bonded a lot during _Into the Woods _last year - I was the only tenth-grader in that production, and he really helped me feel welcome. Besides," she added ruefully. "You don't have anything to worry about. He's gay."

Fred's head shot up. "What?"

"Yeah. Like...very gay. He has a boyfriend who goes to Coolsville University. If it wasn't for Jack, I'd be worried about Holden going after you," she joked.

Fred snorted. "Not very likely." He shook his head. "I'm just so surprised. He doesn't seem gay at all."

Daphne rolled her eyes. "Gay people don't all fit into one stereotypical box, Fred. The only difference between gay and straight people is who we love. Holden loves Jack. And I..." Daphne swallowed and looked away. Was this the moment?

"You what?" Fred asked.

Daphne was brave. She was usually one of the first in the gang to head inside a haunted house or an abandoned factory. She was the first to try a rusty door handle or open an old trunk. Admittedly, these were also the reasons she often fell through so many trap doors into secret rooms. But her moxie and courage were things she prided herself on. Daphne was brave.

But not brave enough in this moment to tell Fred that she loved him.

She smiled, touched his cheek softly with her hand, and brought his face down to hers for a tender kiss. He returned it with vigor, twisting his fingers into her soft, red hair.

"You don't have anything to worry about with me and Holden," she whispered, climbing over the gear shift to straddle Fred in the driver's seat. "Let me prove it to you."

Daphne was flying by the seat of her pants. She wasn't brave enough to tell Fred she loved him right this second, but maybe she would be after they'd been a little intimate. She just needed a push.

They kissed open-mouthed, tongues clashing until Daphne undid Fred's ascot and tossed it aside. She removed her own green scarf and brought her head down to pepper kisses all over his broad neck and into the small part of his chest that was exposed now that the ascot was out of the way. Fred closed his eyes and moved his hands down Daphne's back, all the way to her rear. His hands slipped under her dress and gently squeezed, causing her to gasp in surprise. Their mouths connected again as Daphne began rubbing her lower body against Fred's.

Fred felt himself harden at the contact. "_Shit, _Daph," he groaned, tightening his grip.

Daphne, as had so often happened in circumstances like this, was amazed at the way her body responded. Heat traveled all the way down to her core and pooled at the center. She continued moving her clothed groin over Fred's, hands traveling under his shirt to roam about his muscular chest. Fred's hands had also abandoned her bottom and gone upwards, causing her dress to ride up and expose the soft, creamy flesh of her stomach.

There was the sudden sound of the passenger side door opening, and then an astonished cry.

"RAAAAAAAHH! RY RYES!"

Fred and Daphne jerked up. Standing outside the open door were Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby, all of whom were red in the face and avoided staring directly at the Mystery Machine. Scooby in particular looked scarred for life, paws covering his eyes and shaking his head back and forth. As he was standing closest to the van, it was apparent that he was the one who'd opened the door.

Fred and Daphne were mortified. They had gone farther than this in the past, but they'd never _ever _been caught by anyone, including their friends, even when they were solving mysteries. Daphne slid off Fred's lap back into the passenger seat and fixed her outfit. Fred redid his ascot and shifted slightly in his seat.

"Sorry," Daphne said guiltily as she exited the van. "It's safe to look now. We're decent."

"For goodness sake, you guys," Velma chided, still avoiding their gazes. "It's broad daylight out."

"Like yeah," Shaggy added, not looking either of them in the eye. "If you're gonna do that, like, at least try not do it in the school parking lot."

Scooby just shook his head disappointedly at them both.

"I'm sorry," Fred apologized as everyone climbed into the car. "I honestly forgot where we were."

"Is this what you guys get up to when you say you're looking for clues while we're solving mysteries?" Velma asked Daphne.

Daphne felt her face flood with heat. Fred cleared his throat uncomfortably. Shaggy and Scooby gazed at them in astonishment.

"Never mind," Velma sighed, shaking her head. "Let's just go home."

The ride was silent for a while, until Daphne broke it.

"Speaking of mysteries," she said, desperate to get past the awkwardness. "I think we have our first sign of the Phantom."

"What are you talking about?" asked Velma.

"This afternoon, when I went to get my backpack from the girl's dressing room after rehearsal, I couldn't find the pill bottles that Diana dumps out at the end of 'I Miss the Mountains,'" Daphne said. "I always put them back in the same place, and since we didn't run that song today, I hadn't touched them at all."

"Hmm..." Fred said. "That does sound suspicious, babe. Should we stick around after rehearsal tomorrow to look for clues?" He grinned down at Daphne flirtatiously.

She saw the heat in his eyes and felt her body tense in anticipation. "A clue-gathering session might be in order," she murmured sultrily.

"Am I going to need to chaperone you two?" Velma's wry voice interrupted from between them.

Fred and Daphne both looked straight ahead out the windshield and said nothing more.

x.X.x

"Scooby," Mr. Atwood said the following day. It was after school, and he was a little frazzled at rehearsal. Shaggy and Velma were talking in the practice room, Fred and Daphne were running lines in the house, and Tony was chatting with Corinne Faulkner and a few of the stage hands. Scooby had no idea where Holden was. Rehearsal hadn't even started and Mr. Atwood seemed ready to bite someone's head off. "Leesa is running a bit late this afternoon, so could you go up to the catwalk with Travis to check the bulbs in the spotlights?" Scooby nodded quickly. Anything to keep Mr. Atwood calm.

"I'll show you what we're looking for," Travis said as they headed backstage towards the stairs.

For the past several weeks, Scooby had been working like a dog - no pun intended. It seemed as though his job was never ending. There was so much to keep track of! Luckily, everyone seemed extremely on board with having a dog as an assistant stage manager. Say what you would about the drama kids, but they really knew how to go with the flow.

Once on the catwalk, Travis showed Scooby how to turn the lights on to check if the bulb was burnt out, and then how to remove the bulb if it was. Not for the first time in his life, Scooby thanked his lucky stars that he had opposable thumbs.

"I'm gonna run back down there," Travis said once Scooby understood the mechanics of the spotlights. "Make a note of which lights need new bulbs, and we can let Leesa and Mr. Atwood know. We can probably get the new bulbs by next week."

"Rokay." Scooby saluted Travis as he walked out of sight, and set to work. He had to admit, it was much preferable to be up here in the quiet than down in the house where tensions were high. He hummed the tune of "You Don't Know" to himself as he checked the lights. Only two bulbs were burnt out, so he removed them and started back across the catwalk. He was glad he would have _some _good news for Mr. Atwood. He wasn't sure if the man could have handled it if all of the bulbs were burned out.

Scooby was suddenly overwhelmed by the feeling that he wasn't the only one on the catwalk. He stopped short and glanced around him. There wasn't enough room on either side of him for someone to pass by. There wasn't anyone in front of him. He slowly turned his head.

Several feet behind him, at the opposite end of the catwalk, stood a tall, lean figure. A woman, it looked like. She had black, stringy hair. She had beady yellow eyes. She wore a long white lace dress, like a wedding gown.

And she looked like she wanted to murder Scooby Doo where he stood.

She could only be one person. One thing.

The Phantom of the Auditorium was here.

* * *

**Sponge: Thanks for reading. Sorry for the minor cliffhanger. Remember, the next chapter kicks off the M rating, so read at your own risk. Review if you please!**


	6. I'm Alive

**Sponge: Welcome, everyone, to chapter 6! This fic is now officially rated M with the publication of this chapter, so please for the love of all that is holy READ AT YOUR OWN RISK. Warnings: Fraphne kissing and some graphic Shelma romance. Shirts are coming off, people. You have been warned. Also, some implied masturbation and, as always, language. Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Scooby Doo characters. They belong to Cartoon Network, Warner Brothers, and Hanna-Barbera. All lyrics to the song "I'm Alive" belong to Brian Yorkey. All dialogue in bold comes from the **_**Next to Normal **_**script.**

* * *

**Chapter 6: I'm Alive**

Dog and ghost stared at each other across the catwalk, both unmoving. Scooby began to tremble in fright but found himself rooted to the spot, frozen with fear.

She was just as Leesa had described. From the hair to the eyes to the dress. Leesa hadn't mentioned her murderous glare though.

Scooby shut his eyes, hoping that by the time he opened them again, the specter would be gone. When he did open his eyes again, he was surprised to discover that she had, indeed, disappeared.

"Ruh?" Scooby blinked in disbelief. Save for himself, the catwalk was completely deserted. It was as though she had never been there at all. But he had _definitely _seen her. Hadn't he?

For a millisecond, he thought about investigating the other end of the catwalk. He even took a tentative step forward. Then his self-preservation caught up with him and he turned back around and sped through the costume loft, down the stairs, and onto the stage.

Nearly everyone had returned to the auditorium now. Shaggy and Velma were back from the practice room, and Leesa was just arriving with an armload of folders. The only one still missing was Holden.

"Where in God's nameis that boy...?" Mr. Atwood was muttering when Scooby skidded into view. He stopped just before he knocked Mr. Atwood over.

"Scoob!" Shaggy saw the look of fright in his pet's face. "Like what's the matter, buddy? You look like you've seen a ghost!"

"Rye rid!" Scooby exclaimed, feeling a little hysterical.

Everyone furrowed their brows, but Leesa gasped.

"The Phantom? She's here?" She looked around. "Where did you see her?"

"Ron rhe ratwalk," Scooby replied, a little short of breath. Everyone looked up towards the catwalk.

Suddenly, Holden entered through the curtains, and stopped short at everyone's gazes.

"Walsh!" Mr. Atwood barked. "Where the hell have you been?"

"I was tidying the boy's dressing room a little," Holden replied. "What's going on?"

"The dog thinks he saw the Phantom of the Auditorium," one of the stagehands said. Scooby frowned at being called "the dog."

"Rye _rid _ree rer," he muttered, even though it had happened so fast he couldn't be sure. Holden could hear the hesitation, and furrowed his brow skeptically.

"What did she look like?" Leesa asked in a terrified whisper.

"Rack rair. Rhite ress," Scooby replied, still trying to regain control of his heartbeat.

Leesa glared at Holden. "Isn't that _exactly _what I said around this time last year? Didn't I say she had black hair and a white dress?"

"You also said she had yellow eyes," Holden reminded her.

"Rhe rid!" Scooby barked. "Rhe rid rave rellow ryes!"

Daphne knelt beside Scooby. "Shh Scooby, it's okay. How about we go investigate?"

Scooby shook his head emphatically. "Ruh-uh! Ro way!"

"Like it's all right buddy," Shaggy tried to calm him. "How about me and you stay here while the rest of the gang goes?" Shaggy had never seen his friend so shaken, and glanced around at the others, who nodded in understanding.

"Which part of the catwalk was she on?" Velma asked.

Scooby pointed up to the right.

"Let's go through the wood loft," Fred said.

"There's no time," Mr. Atwood exclaimed. "We were supposed to start rehearsal fifteen minutes ago. We have to begin."

Fred and the girls looked at each other.

"Are you absolutely positive you saw something up there?" Fred asked Scooby.

"Res," Scooby repeated stubbornly, even though he wasn't sure at all.

"Well," said Leesa reluctantly. "Regardless, we've got to get to work now. I don't want Mr. Atwood to have a coronary embolism." She patted Scooby on the head. "Don't worry. I believe you."

Scooby sighed. It was a start, at least.

x.X.x

Rehearsals continued. Mr. Atwood was still tense, but no one mentioned it, as if by ignoring his frustration, it might go away. They all worked hard and steadily, eager to have the first act blocked by the end of September, even though it looked more and more likely every day that this would not actually happen. The good news was that Fred was getting a little better at memorizing his lines, though he still wasn't entirely off book. Luckily, Leesa or Scooby were always around to give him a line. Tony and Daphne had finally gotten their dance down perfectly, and everyone moved right along through Act I.

Other people had begun to notice the weird things happening at rehearsal, especially after the Phantom had allegedly appeared to Scooby Doo. Lights on the catwalk flickered constantly, though Travis and his team checked them every day. There were regular issues with the soundboard, which Addie and her team tried desperately to fix. And nine times out of ten, the props were not where they were supposed to be. Usually they were items that Daphne needed, but nearly everyone in the cast found themselves missing props at one point or another. Diana's pill bottles. Dan's office phone. Natalie's textbooks. Henry's bong. Dr. Madden's clipboard. They all had gone missing over the past several days. Part of the reason Mr. Atwood was so frazzled was because of the disappearance of props. Corinne Faulkner and the rest of her team were frantic. The seniors blamed the Phantom, but no one had seen her since Scooby.

Through it all, Shaggy and Velma continued their secret trysts in the practice room. Five minutes before and after rehearsal had become almost a tease at this point, and it was no longer enough time to satiate their passion. Shaggy almost always had to wait in the practice room a few extra minutes to get himself to calm down before he joined the others. Even more embarrassingly, sometimes he would find himself fantasizing about Velma during class – particularly in English and Spanish, where they sat next to each other, and he often found himself trying in vain not to stare at that forbidden line where the tops of her thighs met the hem of her skirt. It was almost impossible for him to concentrate on anything else during class, especially as he was counting down the hours to how soon he would _actually _be kissing and touching her.

Since the first time Shaggy had gotten aroused, they had gone a little farther. Velma, who had always been the braver of the two, had made the first move. Truthfully, she'd gotten the inspiration from Daphne and Fred. She'd seen the effect that Daphne's touch had on Fred, and wanted to see if it would be the same for her and Shaggy. The first time her hands had slipped under Shaggy's shirt had been the day after they'd caught Fred and Daphne in the Mystery Machine. When Velma's fingers made contact with his bare, tender skin, Shaggy had felt lust shoot through him like a jolt of desire he felt for Velma was unparalleled to anything he'd felt for any other girl. And he wanted to touch her back.

So he had slid his hands up her spine, under her sweater, brushing his fingers along her smooth, delicate skin. Her reaction had been just as he'd hoped – a shuddery gasp, then quiet whimpers as he glided his fingers up and down her back, occasionally skimming over the band of her bra.

Shaggy had never unhooked a girl's bra before. To be honest, he didn't quite understand how they worked. He was content with this, for now.

Until Friday.

It was two days after Scooby's ghost sighting, and Shaggy and Velma were in the practice room before rehearsal. There were no more awkward silences or gathering of nerves – these days, they were on each other as soon as Shaggy locked the door. They had also taken to sitting (and occasionally laying) on the floor together, as they sometimes found their passion too strong to remain standing. They were sitting now, as close as they could get without Velma actually straddling Shaggy's lap. Both of their shirts were pushed up very high, and Shaggy reveled in the fact that he could get a vocal response out of Velma by just occasionally brushing his fingers down her back.

She had no idea her body could feel like this from the simple skin-on-skin contact under their clothes. Every single one of her nerve endings felt alive. Velma wondered briefly how she would feel if neither of them were wearing anything. It was exhilarating to feel her skin on fire under Shaggy's touch. No wonder Fred and Daphne couldn't control themselves sometimes.

_What's the matter with you? Stop thinking about Fred and Daphne! _Velma scolded herself. She didn't have to admonish herself for long – Shaggy was proving an excellent distraction.

Their kissing was impatient, tongues colliding, teeth nipping, breathing harsh. Velma's hands traveled up Shaggy's body under his shirt, up to his shoulders. Instinctively, he broke apart for a moment to remove his shirt completely.

Everything was happening so fast, but time seemed to slow down for both of them in this moment. Perhaps it had even stopped altogether. They stared at each other, breathless, taking in what he'd just done. Velma blinked several times at the sight of him. The gang had gone to the pool together over the summer and she'd seen him in swim trunks then, but there was something very different about seeing him in his context. Why was that so surprising to her?

Shaggy felt himself blush. They hadn't talked about this, but it certainly went beyond the 'practice kissing' they told themselves they were doing. Was this what she wanted?

"Velm," he breathed. "You like...have to tell me if this is okay."

She nodded, but he shook his head.

"No," he said firmly. "I need you to like, say the words. I need to hear you say it's okay."

"It's okay," she murmured, and he relaxed.

"Okay," he whispered, leaning in to kiss her again.

"Wait." Velma hesitated a moment, then reached down to the hem of her own sweater and began to bring it up. Shaggy put his hands on her arms before she got too far.

"Velm," he said again. "If you're not ready..."

She looked him in the eye. "I am ready," she told him.

And in one swift movement, her sweater had come off.

So had her glasses. They caught on the cowl neck as the sweater slipped over her head, and landed with a soft clatter on the carpeted floor.

She giggled, feeling around for them. "I can't see without my glasses," she said. Shaggy picked them up and held them to her. She put them on and looked at him appreciatively. "And I want to see this." She blinked a few times, eyes never leaving his. "I want to see you."

Shaggy gulped as his eyes roamed over Velma's exposed torso, save for her delicate white bra. He'd never seen a girl without a shirt on before. Well, unless you counted over the summer when he'd seen Velma and Daphne in swimsuits. Daphne was the only one who had worn a two-piece though, and as objectively attractive as she was, she couldn't compare to Velma right now.

Shaggy reached for her waist tentatively, eyes asking permission. Velma nodded, and gasped at his touch when he finally made contact. He held her gently and laid her down on the floor under him. She wrapped her arms around him, gripping his shoulder blades and they kissed breathlessly.

Shaggy was propped over Velma on his elbows, one hand in her hair to bring her face closer to his, the other hand moving gently along her waist. She shivered under his touch, gasping and whimpering in pleasure. He loved those sounds, and his body reacted to them.

"Is this okay?" he asked, moving his hand from her waist to her chest. Over the bra – he was not yet brave enough to try to remove it.

"Mmhmm" Velma sighed into his neck, nodding fervently. She trailed her fingers down his abdomen until she reached the waistband of his jeans. "Is this okay?" she asked, trailing her fingers along the edge.

"_God _yes," Shaggy moaned, clutching Velma closer to him. He was so ablaze with desire, his jeans felt constricting. He sat up to undo the button of his pants, but stopped just short. Velma sat up too, and they gazed at each other. Their breath came in ragged and heavy, and Shaggy suddenly felt unsure of himself. Was he pushing this farther than he should?

"Velma," he rasped. "Are you sure it's okay for me to do this?"

She nodded. "I want this." She took one of his hands in hers, and moved it back to her breast. Then, in a whisper, "I want you."

Shaggy felt himself twitch under his jeans at her words. Velma _wanted _him. And unbelievably, he felt the same way about her. He crawled back over her as she laid down again.

"I want you, too," he confessed breathlessly, bringing his impassioned lips to hers. Their hot breath mingled together as Shaggy used one hand to hold himself up from crushing her, while the other hand snuck under the cup of her bra and made contact with her bare skin. He'd never done this before – touched a girl in this way. But just like his mouth the first day he'd kissed her, his hand seemed to know what to do all on its own.

"Ahh—!" she gasped, sucking in a harsh breath as pleasure coursed through her. No one had ever touched her like this before. Admittedly, she hadn't been sure of what to expect when she offered up this part of her body. Having never experienced anything like this, she had no idea how she'd react. But now, as his fingers moved gently along her breast, Velma clutched him close, her skin tingling as desire rushed through her body like flames.

"Like, are you okay?" he asked her, though he didn't stop.

"Yes," Velma panted, burying her lips into his neck.

Feeling her exhale hot, sweet breath just below his ear gave Shaggy a new bravado. He'd been kissing her neck, but now he moved downwards, nipping at her shoulder and her collarbone before coming to his desired end, at the valley between her breasts.

The contact of his mouth on her chest caused Velma to arch her back in pleasure. She whimpered with passion, and bit down hard on her lip to silence herself. Her go-to exclamation, _jinkies, _was not nearly enough to express how she felt. She needed something stronger. She needed an expletive.

_"Fuck," _she whispered, eyes shut in ecstasy.

Shaggy gently nipped at her skin and felt himself go rigid. She had said _fuck _again, and it had the exact same impact on him as it did when she said it in rehearsal. But now he could do something about the fire within him.

"Say it again," he begged, detaching from her breast for a millisecond before leeching onto the side of the other one.

She gasped at the touch. "_Fuck, _Shaggy," she whimpered again, sliding her hands down his sides to again fiddle with the waistband of his jeans.

His breath caught as he pressed his lower body against her to ease some of the tension building there. "Velma," he breathed.

_KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK_

Both Shaggy and Velma groaned out loud at the sound of someone rapping on the door, this time from frustration rather than pleasure.

"Who is it?" Velma called, rolling out from under Shaggy to grab her sweater.

Daphne's voice came through the door. "It's me! Mr. Atwood sent me to get you. Rehearsal's starting, and you know he's on the warpath, so the sooner you get there, the better."

Reluctantly, Shaggy sat up and reached for his shirt. Velma sighed. "We'll be right there," she called back to Daphne. They listened to their friend's heels click down the hall and Velma pulled her sweater back on. "Well," she murmured once she was sure Daphne was gone. "That was…" She couldn't think of an adequate phrase to describe how it was for her. How did you put desire and heat and passion like this into human words? She decided the best thing was to just be honest. "I liked that," she said simply.

"Like, really?" Shaggy asked. Why was that so surprising to him? "Like, me too," he replied truthfully. They smiled shyly at each other., though Shaggy knew that "liked" was insufficient in describing how he felt. Now that it had happened, he knew he wouldn't be able to think about anything else for a very long time. Which was a problem, because he was about to be late to rehearsal.

Velma stood up then, but Shaggy remained on the floor.

"Need a minute?" she asked him, not quite looking at the part of his body that most demanded her attention.

Shaggy nodded. "This one like, might be a while." He didn't look at her as he said it. Why was he embarrassed to look her in the eye after what they'd been doing? How they'd been touching each other? _Like, stop thinking about it! _Shaggy chastised himself in his head. If he thought about it too much, he'd never be able to leave this room.

"Okay," Velma said, also still not quite making eye-contact. "I'll cover for you as long as I can, but you know what Mr. Atwood's been like this week."

Shaggy nodded again. "I'll try like, not to be too late."

Velma nodded in response, and let herself out of the room. Once she'd gone, Shaggy exhaled slowly and glanced around. His eyes landed on a box of tissues on top of the piano, and a wild idea popped into his head.

He had never, ever in his life even _considered _doing something like this at school. But he knew that there would be hell to pay if he was late to rehearsal, and desperate times called for desperate measures. He locked the door again and undid his jeans.

Shaggy knew he wouldn't last long, not with his mind full of the very fresh memory of Velma's skin under his and her soft voice in his ear. He gritted his teeth, remembering the feel of her skin under his hand, and the sounds she'd made as he touched her. His breathing became labored. He thought about her fingers toying with the waistband on his jeans, teasing the tender skin that lay just beneath. His breath hitched. He imagined her going farther, past the constricting denim of his jeans and elastic of his boxers, all the way down, until her gentle touch arrived right where he needed it the most. He pretended it was her hand, not his, touching him now, and let himself remember the sound of her voice quietly moaning his name.

Shaggy finished with a small gasp. He breathed deeply a few times, then crumpled the used tissue into a ball. He quickly zipped his pants back up and made a pit stop at the men's room to toss the tissue into the wastebasket. After he did, Shaggy checked his appearance in the mirror and splashed some water on his face. He didn't _look _as though he'd just jacked off in a practice room. At least, he hoped he didn't.

On his way to the auditorium, Shaggy couldn't help but continue thinking about what had transpired between him and Velma. It was certainly the farthest they'd gone before - the farthest he'd ever gone with anyone. Was it the same for her? He tried not to think about Velma taking her shirt off for Tony Moretti. Somehow, though, Shaggy had a feeling that he was the only one who'd ever seen Velma topless. Would they go farther than that? He thought of Holden's line in the play: **"Who knows? They're young, they're horny...it happens."**

Thanks to a few cringe-worthy "talks" with his father, Shaggy understood the ramifications that could happen to horny teenagers who went too far before they were ready. He knew how important it was to be careful. He also knew the only reason things hadn't gotten even more heated in the practice room just now was because Daphne had interrupted them. _Should I like...be more prepared in the future? _Shaggy thought. He'd never bought condoms before. He'd never needed to, obviously. But would it be prudent for him to bring them along next time, just in case? Or would that make it seem as though he were expecting something?

The thought of losing his virginity in a school practice room made his stomach clench in discomfort, even if his partner was Velma. Maybe it would be better for them to have a discussion about this first. Of course, the thought of _that _made Shaggy break out in a cold sweat. Talk about a nerve-generating conversation.

"That was quicker than usual," Velma remarked quietly when Shaggy arrived at the auditorium moments later. He slipped into the seat beside her. Amazingly, Mr. Atwood and Leesa had not yet called everyone to order – they were bent over the production binder with Scooby - so the cast and crew were in the house chatting quietly with each other. Everyone was far enough away from Shaggy and Velma that their conversation remained private.

Shaggy shrugged, a little embarrassed. "I uh...like, figured out a way to calm down faster." He went a bit red, and she did too.

_Does that mean what I think it means? _she wondered. But just then, Mr. Atwood clapped his hands.

"All right everybody, shut the hell up," he said to the company. "Glad to see we're all here on time." Shaggy and Velma glanced at each other out of the corner of their eyes as Mr. Atwood continued. "So, it appears my original plan of having the entire first act blocked before October was merely a pipe dream. At this rate, it'll probably be a few more weeks before we start in on Act II. We might have to have a Sunday rehearsal in a few weeks to catch up. But don't be discouraged – everything is coming together quite well. That being said, we're blocking 'I'm Alive' today."

Velma noticed Holden perk up. "I'm Alive" was the song he'd sung at auditions. It was a Gabe solo, but dialogue between various characters was interspersed throughout. Shaggy was the only cast member who wasn't actually onstage during this song.

He settled down into his chair. "Like, I'll just stay here, I guess."

Velma giggled as she got up and walked past him. He tried not to stare at her legs.

Scooby came and sat with Shaggy as the rest of the cast assembled onstage. Shaggy took the opportunity to dig out a bag of chips for them to share. If their mouths were full, they were in no danger of talking, and Shaggy was terrified that he'd blurt out what he and Velma had been up to in the practice room. Shaggy focused on the scene as it played out on stage.

They started in the middle of the scene depicting Dr. Madden's first meeting with Diana. Fred, Velma, and Holden all waited in the wings.

"**Why don't you tell me about the last time you felt truly happy," **Tony/Dr. Madden said to Daphne/Diana, who sat in an armchair opposite him.

Daphne/Diana had no response. She just sat there, staring blankly at him.

Tony/Dr. Madden tried again. **"Were you happy when you got married?"**

This time, Daphne/Diana shrugged. **"I thought I was," **she replied.

Tony/Dr. Madden leaned forward. **"There's a difference between being happy and just thinking you're happy?"**

Daphne/Diana snorted ruefully. **"Most people who think they're happy just haven't thought about it enough. Most people who think they're happy are actually just stupid."**

**"I see," **Tony/Dr. Madden said with a nod. **"Were you happy when your son was born?"**

From the pit, the music started. Daphne/Diana looked at him inquisitively.

**"My son?" **she asked.

Holden/Gabe entered from the wings then to watch this conversation play out.

**"Tell me about him," **Tony/Dr. Madden encouraged.

Daphne/Diana furrowed her brow. **"About my son?"**

**"Why is he still around?" **asked Tony/Dr. Madden. **"Who is he? What is he?"**

Daphne/Diana didn't answer, and Holden/Gabe began to sing.

_"I am what you want me to be_

_And I'm your worst fear – you'll find it in me_

_Come closer..._

_Come closer..."_

**"Where does he come from, do you think?" **Tony/Dr. Madden said to a still-silent Daphne/Diana.

_"I am more than memory," _Holden/Gabe continued as he circled them.

_"I am what might be, I am mystery._

_You know me_

_So show me."_

Shaggy shook his head in disbelief. Holden had had a phenomenal audition, but the song sounded even better now with the proper orchestration. He was as good as Daphne. Maybe even better.

He kept singing. "_When I appear it's_

_Not so clear if_

_I'm a simple spirit or I'm flesh and blood."_

Scooby shivered involuntarily at the lyrics. They reminded him so much how the Phantom had appeared to him earlier that week.

Holden/Gabe was really getting into the song now. _"But I'm alive_

_I'm alive_

_I am so alive_

_And I feed on the fear that's behind your eyes._

_And I need you _

_To need me_

_It's no surprise_

_I'm alive..._

_So alive..._

_I'm alive..."_

Fred and Velma entered then, the music continuing under them. Shaggy tensed up when he noticed Fred wasn't holding his script. He shared a nervous glance with Scooby, and prayed that Fred would remember his lines in this scene.

**"Four times a week?" **Velma/Natalie asked him. She was meant to have a backpack in this scene but, like many of the other props, it had disappeared, so she ran the scene without it. **"That's a lot, isn't it?"**

Fred/Dan shrugged. **"It's what the doctor..." **He broke off, struggling to remember the rest of the sentence. "Line?" he called out tentatively. The orchestra stopped, and the mood was broken.

Scooby sighed in defeat and left Shaggy to join Leesa and Mr. Atwood at the front of the house.

"It's what the doctor recommended," Leesa read to him.

Fred nodded resolutely. "Right, sorry," he replied. Back to Velma, he said, **"It's what the doctor recommended." **The orchestra picked up where they'd left off.

Velma/Natalie waited a beat before replying," **"This is never going to get better, is it?" **At this, Holden/Gabe joined them to listen, though neither of them acknowledged his presence. **"He's never going away?"**

Fred/Dan shrugged again. **"I don't know, Natalie," **he replied. Inwardly, he fist-bumped himself – he knew he'd gotten that line right.

Velma/Natalie looked at him. **"This is one of those moments when you could just be a typical parent and lie and say yes."**

**"Yes," **Fred/Dan replied.

Velma/Natalie rolled her eyes. **"Thanks," **she said. **"That's comforting."**

She turned to exit and Holden/Gabe started to sing again.

_"I am flame and I am fire_

_I am destruction, decay, and desire_

_I'll hurt you..."_

Fred/Dan called over to Velma/Natalie. **"You know, Natalie..."**

Holden/Gabe: _"I'll heal you."_

Fred/Dan: **"It's not always about your comfort."**

"It's not _all _about your comfort," Leesa corrected.

Damn. Fred gritted his teeth.

Holden/Gabe: _"I'm your wish, your dream come true_

_And I am your darkest nightmare too_

_I've shown you..."_

Fred/Dan: **"It's about helping your father – **I mean, **your mother."**

Scooby shook his head as Shaggy groaned and hid his face in his hands.

"Cut!" Mr. Atwood exclaimed. The pit orchestra stopped playing again and Holden glared at Fred.

"Come on man," he said. "You're throwing off the song."

"I know, I'm sorry!" Fred cried. Velma put a hand on his arm.

"It's all right, Freddie," she comforted, but she looked just as frustrated as the others felt. Daphne looked at him sympathetically from the armchair, and Tony grinned cheerlessly.

"Jones," Mr. Atwood sighed. "Keep your script with you for this song, just so we can keep moving along."

Shamefacedly, Fred went to the boy's dressing room to get his script. While he was gone, Velma looked over at Daphne, worry shining through both of their eyes.

They worked through the song a few more times, making a little progress. There were a few snafus, such as when Velma couldn't find the pill bottles she needed near the end of the song, but they had been able to complete one full run through by the time rehearsal came to an end.

"Have a great weekend, everybody," Mr. Atwood told the company. "We'll start in on "Make Up Your Mind/Catch Me I'm Falling" next week." At this, he grimaced, and it became clear to everyone that he was not looking forward to blocking this particular song. "It's one of the most complicated numbers in the production, so please, for the love of God, make sure you know your parts backward and forward by Monday. Hopefully the missing props will turn up soon as well. I'll see you then. You may go."

Everyone headed off in different directions; Shaggy and Velma to the practice room, Holden and Tony to the parking lot, Scooby and Leesa to the sound booth for a quick production meeting with the sound engineers. Other members of the crew dispersed, and the band kids chatted idly as they packed up their instruments. Daphne caught up to Fred onstage, and led him behind the curtain. They stood in the wings, near the assistant stage manager's desk – the one where Scooby would be sitting come opening night.

"Freddie," she said quietly. "Are you all right? I know rehearsal was rough today."

Fred glanced away from her. "I'm sorry, Daph," he murmured. "I know I'm putting us behind schedule."

Daphne shook her head. "You're not putting us behind schedule, babe," she replied, even though he was. "You'll get your lines down. I promise. I can help you."

"Like, run lines with me, you mean?" he asked.

Daphne hopped up to sit on top of the desk and took his hand to bring him closer to her. "Yeah," she said with a nod. "And maybe give you some incentive to get them right."

"What do you mean?" Fred asked, clueless.

Daphne lowered her lashes and wrapped her arms around Fred's neck. "Every time you get a line right," she murmured. "We do this." She brought her face close to his and kissed him sweetly and tenderly.

Automatically, Fred's mouth opened to her and he used one hand to brace himself on the desk while his other hand tangled in her luscious hair.

"I'd hate to see what we'd do when I get my lines wrong," Fred murmured when they broke apart.

Daphne grinned and kissed him just below his earlobe. "You won't get your lines wrong," she whispered. Fred felt his heart accelerate. "I'll make sure you don't forget them again."

"And how do you plan to do that?"

He barely had time to get the words out before Daphne kissed him with such intensity that Fred saw stars. He groaned into the kiss as her soft mouth moved against his. Instinctively, he positioned himself between her legs and brought his hands to her knees. Daphne shuddered under his touch and pulled him closer. She wrapped her legs around his lower body as her delicate fingers trailed down his neck and under the collar of his shirt. Fred glided his hands up Daphne's thighs until he was almost all the way under her dress.

"REY!"

Fred and Daphne separated in a hurry at the sound of Scooby's voice. Much to their embarrassment, he wasn't alone. Leesa Beamer stood with him, arms crossed with an eyebrow arched.

"Really?" she said disdainfully. "On his desk?"

Daphne jumped down and smoothed her rumpled skirt as Fred cleared his throat and shifted awkwardly from one foot to the other.

"Sorry, Scooby," they mumbled, neither of them looking him in the eye.

He glowered at them. "Rye'm ronna ro rind Raggy," he muttered, leaving through the curtain.

Leesa shook her head wryly at them. "Wrap it before you tap it, kids!" she called over her shoulder as she walked away. Fred and Daphne's faces burned.

Scooby muttered to himself the entire walk to the practice room and knocked on the door when he arrived. "Raggy?" he called.

There were some muffled sounds from the other side of the door. "Like hold on a sec, Scoob," Shaggy's voice came through the door. Scooby waited. A few minutes later, the door opened and Shaggy and Velma appeared.

Scooby figured he was still pouting, because Shaggy said, "What's the matter, buddy?" almost immediately, and Velma said she'd go wait for the Mystery Machine outside.

"Like why the long face?" Shaggy asked once Velma was gone.

Scooby launched into everything that was bothering him – all his hard work, Mr. Atwood's frustration, the misplaced props and technical mishaps, his fear of the Phantom, and now, on top of it all, Fred and Daphne going at it on his desk. He was on such a roll that he didn't even realize Shaggy was waving his hands to stop him until he was midway through his speech.

"Like slow down buddy, I can't understand a word you're saying," he said.

Scooby took a deep breath to calm himself down. He repeated himself slowly so Shaggy could try to make out every word. He nodded sympathetically along as Scooby described his worries about the show, Mr. Atwood, and the Phantom, but Shaggy felt his face go warm with embarrassment when Scooby mentioned walking in on Daphne and Fred.

Just now in the practice room, Shaggy and Velma hadn't gone nearly as far as they had earlier that afternoon. All their clothes had remained on. But their "bonding" had been cut short by Scooby's interruption. If Scooby was this upset about Fred and Daphne, who'd been together for several months, how would he feel about what Shaggy and Velma were doing?

Shaggy knew. Scooby's feelings would be hurt so much worse. It didn't matter how alive Shaggy felt while he was with Velma. If Scooby knew, he would feel betrayed. Possibly even abandoned. And that was why he could never, ever find out.

* * *

**Sponge: Thanks for reading. More next week! In the meantime, review if you please!**


	7. Make Up Your MindCatch Me I'm Falling

**Sponge: Thank you for reading, reviewing, and coming back for chapter 7! The only warnings I have for you today are for minuscule amounts of kissing and the usual strong language. Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Scooby Doo characters. They belong to Cartoon Network, Warner Brothers, and Hanna-Barbera. Any dialogue that's in bold comes from the **_**Next to Normal **_**script.**

* * *

**Chapter 7: Make Up Your Mind/Catch Me I'm Falling**

On Monday morning, the gang arrived at school to find that fliers and posters littered the hallways.

"Its Homecoming Season!" they read. "Football Game vs. Lyonsville High on Friday, October 11 at 7pm. Dance on Saturday, October 12 at 8pm. Tickets on sale during all lunch periods!" The fliers were decorated with images of dice, cards, and Vegas landmarks.

"Oh wow," Fred said as they stopped by their lockers, all of which now bore a flier. "I completely forgot about homecoming."

"How did you forget about homecoming?" asked Velma. "You're our class representative, and you're in the SGA. Isn't that what you all talk about during class?"

Fred shot Velma a dubious expression, indicating he hadn't been paying much attention during his seventh-period SGA class.

"Is homecoming like, a big deal here?" asked Shaggy, who hadn't been in Coolsville yet for last year's.

"Yeah," Fred replied with a shrug. "We play Lyonsville every year – they're our main rivals. They've beaten us the past two years, but with my buddy Trent as the varsity QB, we might actually stand a chance." Fred paused. If he wasn't so focused on mystery solving, _he _might be the quarterback this year. He searched his heart for an ounce of regret, but he couldn't find any. There wasn't a team he wanted to be part of more than Mystery Inc.

"The dance every year is pretty good," Daphne told Shaggy. "Last year the theme was all about Paris, so the SGA made an Eiffel tower out of cardboard and decorated the gym with French flags and stuff. This year it looks like it's casino-themed." She gestured towards the flier.

"Are you gonna go?" Velma asked Daphne and Fred.

Daphne shrugged and shot a pointed glance at Fred. It took him a minute to get the hint.

"Oh!" he said. "Uh…hey Daphne? Would you like to go to homecoming with me?"

Daphne rolled her eyes but smiled all the same. "I would be honored, Freddie," she said, standing on her toes to kiss him sweetly. _Maybe this is it, _she thought. _Maybe the dance will be the right time to tell him I love him._

"Rar rogs rallowed?" asked Scooby.

"Like, you're allowed to be anywhere I go, Scoob," Shaggy told him. He was suddenly nervous that Velma was expecting him to ask her. He shot a furtive glance her way, but she didn't seem to be paying much attention. She was scrutinizing the flier.

"Whatcha looking at, Velm?" asked Daphne, who noticed.

"There's a typo," Velma replied. "They forgot the apostrophe in 'it's'."

The gang rolled their eyes.

"Gotta go make announcements," Fred said as they passed the main office. After a kiss with Daphne that seemed much more lingering than normal (Scooby actually needed to clear his throat), Fred went into the office and the others made their way to Mr. Aiken's classroom.

In homeroom, the gang listened to the representatives from each grade talk about homecoming and tell their classmates how to vote for homecoming court. This time when Shaggy sneaked a glance at Velma, she was staring back at him. He quickly dropped his head and dug in his backpack for the SAT vocabulary flashcards he was supposed to be studying. He knew he couldn't avoid her forever, but he would hold out for as long as he could.

x.X.x

Shaggy dreaded second-period English, but they ended up having a pop quiz ("to prepare you for AP exams," the teacher, Ms. Whitacre, said), and didn't have a chance to speak with Velma. Daphne and Fred went to buy tickets to the dance at lunch, but Shaggy took his time in the deli line with Scooby to avoid talking about it. As he piled his sandwich with all the different toppings the cafeteria had to offer, he wondered why he was so averse to going to homecoming with Velma.

It wasn't because the thought of the event itself was so nauseating – truthfully, Shaggy thought he might enjoy homecoming. He pictured himself having a good time with his friends, jumping around to the beat of the music. He even knew that he'd like the act of slow-dancing with Velma – his arms around her waist, her head resting on his chest. He would like that quite a bit.

But even in the picture in his mind, Scooby was there in the background, watching with a wounded expression. He couldn't hurt his best friend like that. If Scooby was going to go to the dance too, then Shaggy absolutely could not pair himself off with Velma.

To his surprise, Velma didn't bring up the dance during study hall or sixth-period Spanish either. Shaggy allowed himself to believe that she also wouldn't mention it during rehearsal. But of course, that was when she did.

"We should talk about homecoming," Velma said when Shaggy arrived at the practice room before rehearsal that afternoon.

He had just locked the door behind him and felt himself break out in a cold sweat. "Uh…like, what do you mean?"

What Shaggy didn't know was that the only reason Velma hadn't brought up homecoming at any other point during the day was because she had been gathering her nerves. She knew – she had known for almost a year – that she had a crush on Shaggy. She would have never imagined that the crush would manifest itself in such a physical way, but the two of them found themselves in this practice room before and after rehearsal day after day, unable to keep their hands off each other. Here was her proof that Shaggy wanted her as much as she wanted him. It was time to tell him how she felt.

Velma took a deep breath. "I think we should go to the dance together," she told him. "We've been at this for weeks now and as much fun as it is to sneak around, it would be so much easier if we didn't have to. I…" she paused. "I think it would be nice."

Shaggy's throat went dry. This was exactly the opposite of what he'd wanted to happen today. Why did they have to put a label on this? He didn't want to make anything official with Velma. He couldn't. Not without hurting Scooby Doo. Shaggy wanted to tell Velma how much he wished he could go to the dance with her, but the risk was too great. And, to be honest, he was too chicken.

"Like what about Scoob?" he asked.

This, apparently, was the wrong thing to say.

Velma's eyes narrowed in confusion. "What about him?"

Shaggy shrugged and shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "I don't want his feelings to get hurt."

"He's a dog. He'll get over it," Velma replied. This came out harsher than she'd meant it, but it was too late to take it back now.

Shaggy scowled. "He's more than like, _just _a dog, Velma," he said. "He's my best friend. And I can't do this to him. You've seen how upset he gets every time Fred and Daphne get going."

"Well I kind of agree with him there, to be honest," Velma said. "They need to learn to get better control of themselves."

"Like look who's talking," Shaggy shot back.

Velma glared at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Shaggy was mad, but he also knew that now was a good time to stop talking. He just shook his head and avoided her gaze.

"I'd say if either of us has the control problem," Velma continued. "It's you. _I've _never had to stay behind in the practice room to get myself off." She felt a blush rise to her cheeks. She'd never been so frank with him, and she knew this was a low blow. That had only happened the one time. It was unfair of her to bring it up. Her eyes strayed to the clock above the piano. "We should get to rehearsal."

She unlocked the door and walked away without so much as a glance back at him.

x.X.x

Rehearsal that day was a disaster. The drama students had been working on set construction during seventh period, but evidently they weren't supposed to start on that yet. Shaggy arrived, fuming from the practice room confrontation, to find Mr. Atwood shouting at Leesa and the drama students.

"We have a schedule for a _reason, _people!" he barked. "We haven't yet taken inventory of what's in the lumber room or the wood loft, so _why _would you start on a project that we haven't yet properly prepared for? Not to mention, this" (here he gestured to the half-finished, non-structure on the stage) "is _not _the correct set design! We're already behind on other aspects of the show, and now taking this apart will put us even _further _behind schedule! What were you thinking?"

"Like how long has this been going on?" Shaggy murmured to Fred as he slid into the seat beside him. Fred wasn't sitting near Daphne, as all the drama students had moved to the front of the house to take the verbal lashing.

Fred looked pained. "As soon as Atwood walked in, he started yelling." He shook his head. "Poor Daph." Shaggy glanced over at her. She seemed ready to cry.

Once Mr. Atwood had finished shouting, the drama students and the other cast and crew members began working to disassemble the structure. Eventually, when Mr. Atwood was red in the face, everyone realized it would be faster to just move it backstage and work on it another time, so that's what they did. When rehearsal finally began, Shaggy couldn't find the flowers that Henry was supposed to give to Natalie for the piano recital that happens during the number.

"It must be the Phantom of the Auditorium again," Holden joked. He appeared to be the only person who was in a good mood. Velma and Shaggy were still annoyed with each other, Fred and Daphne were sullen, Scooby and Leesa were frantic, and Tony was quiet.

"Read the room, Walsh," Mr. Atwood barked. "Does anyone here appear to be in the mood for your goddamn second rate humor?"

That shut Holden up.

"Just go without the flowers for now," Mr. Atwood sighed. "Let's run the scene. Action."

Shaggy pretended to hold a bouquet out to Velma. She glowered at him, and he glared back at her.

"**Hey," **he said with hardly any emotion in his voice. **"I know I'm not supposed to be backstage but…" **He thrust the pretend flowers closer to her. **"For luck."**

"**Did you see my parents out there?" **Velma asked, in an equally monotonous tone. The script called for her to be fidgety from nerves and narcotics (specifically, Diana's unused medications), but Velma just seemed bored and frustrated.

Shaggy could relate.

"Cut!" Mr. Atwood cried. "What the hell is that, you guys? You're usually better than this."

"Sorry," they both mumbled.

"Start again," Mr. Atwood directed. "Action!"

**"Hey," **Shaggy said, trying to get into character. But it was so hard with Velma staring daggers at him. **"I know I'm not supposed to be—"**

"Dinkley!" Mr. Atwood interrupted. "Wipe that scowl off your face. You're supposed to be twitchy, not angry."

Velma gritted her teeth as they reset the scene yet again.

"Action!" Mr. Atwood shouted.

**"Hey..." **Shaggy began, and immediately forgot the rest of his lines. It was as though they'd simply flown from his head, leaving his mind totally blank. He stared into space as he tried to remember the next thing he said, but it just wasn't coming to him. "Line," he called helplessly.

Mr. Atwood groaned. "What is the matter with you people today?"

"Rye roe Rye'm rot rupposed ro re rackstage..." Scooby prompted him.

"Right, like sorry," Shaggy muttered. **"I know I'm not supposed to be backstage but...good luck."**

"_For _luck," Leesa and Scooby called out in unison.

Shaggy grimaced. "_**For **_**luck," **he corrected himself, pretending to hold out the flowers.

**"Did you see my parents out there?" **Velma asked.

**"Um—are you okay?" **No matter what Shaggy did, he couldn't get into character. Neither, it appeared, could Velma. They were both still too irritated with each other.

**"I'm fine. My dad said they'd both be here," **she snapped.

Shaggy attempted to make his voice sound comforting. **"Then I'm sure they will be." **It came out sounding antagonistic.

Velma glared at him out of the corner of her eye. **"Will they?"**

"Cut!" Mr. Atwood exclaimed. He looked ready to pull his hair out. "What is going on with you two? Dinkley, remember, you're nervous and agitated in this scene, not hostile! Rogers, you're trying to comfort her! Get your head out of your ass." Mr. Atwood sighed. "Start again."

They ran through the scene a few more times but it soon became evident that it was a lost cause. The song wasn't very good either – absolutely nobody was on their A-game. Fred was still having trouble with his lines, and even Daphne, Holden, and Tony had difficulty remembering what they said. Everyone was pitchy and had a difficult time following the blocking. Shaggy and Velma in particular did poorly throughout. Everybody was frustrated by the time rehearsal came to an end.

"All right everyone," Mr. Atwood said at the end of the day. "I won't pretend like today's rehearsal wasn't a rough one, because it absolutely was. I know that there are a lot of high tensions right now, so we're all going to go home, get some rest, and come back tomorrow and do it better." He waved his hand. "Dismissed. You may go. See you tomorrow."

Everyone was glad to get out of the auditorium. Scooby and Leesa didn't even hold a production meeting, they were all so eager to get going.

"Geez," Tony muttered to the gang as they walked down the hall towards the entrance. "Atwood was right. That was a shit-show today."

Daphne shrugged. "It was an off day. Everyone has them now and then." She sighed, and Fred put an arm around her as they walked through the door to the parking lot.

"How often does it happen for everyone at the same time?" asked Velma.

Daphne shrugged again. "We're a small cast," she said by way of explanation.

Velma's question had caused Tony to notice that she and Shaggy had followed them all outside. "Hey, don't you two usually have some kinda meeting after rehearsal?"

Shaggy and Velma looked at each other as they all continued down the sidewalk towards the student parking lot.

"I don't think that'll be necessary today," Velma said loftily, hoping that no one could tell how much it hurt her to say it.

"Are you sure?" asked Holden, who had caught up with them all. "I think maybe you guys need it."

Velma shot him a withering look. "Excuse me?"

Holden shrugged. "I'm just saying. It looked like you guys didn't have the same level of chemistry that you usually do. And I noticed that you had a shorter than usual meeting before rehearsal. I think that's why you sucked so much. Maybe it _is _necessary."

"That's rude, Holden," Daphne said, even though she secretly agreed with him. But she'd never tell Shaggy and Velma how bad they'd been. "You weren't so great yourself today. None of us were."

"No," Holden agreed. He jerked his head at Shaggy and Velma. "But _they _were the worst." He sighed. "This is what happens when you cast non-drama kids in a production."

Daphne stopped walking and whirled around. "What did you say?"

"Daph," Fred said, pulling her arm to try to get her to move, but she didn't budge. Everyone stopped as Daphne and Holden glared at each other. Scooby whined nervously.

Holden crossed his arms. "I'm just saying. If you hadn't brought all these outsiders," – he inclined his head again toward Shaggy, Velma, and Fred – "the production process might be running a lot smoother." He leaned towards Daphne. "Why'd you bring them in anyway, Blake? Thought you could solve the 'mystery of the Phantom' with their help?"

Daphne's face burned. That was exactly what she'd been hoping. But other than the disappearing props and the one sighting that Scooby'd had, there were no clues to follow. And hearing Holden say it out loud alerted her to how stupid it all sounded.

"Hey man." Tony put a hand on Holden's shoulder. "Ease up."

Holden whirled around and pointed a finger in Tony's face. "You're not one of us either, you know," he spat. "Why did _you_ audition? Trying to get back with your ex-girlfriend?" He indicated Velma with an angry jerk of his head.

Tony rolled his eyes. "Come on, dude. I think you cool it."

"_You _need to cool it," Holden hissed, even though Tony was the completely calm one. With that, Holden stalked off towards the student parking lot, leaving the others in the dust behind him.

Tony raised his eyebrows at Daphne. "Well, I guess it wouldn't be the drama club without a little drama, huh?" He gave her and the others his signature lopsided smile. It amazed Daphne how Tony was able to let everything Holden had said just now roll off him, like water off the back of a duck.

"How do you _do _that?" she asked him.

Tony furrowed his brow. "Do what?"

"Not let him get to you. He was being so mean!"

Tony shrugged. "He had a long day. We all did. He was just venting, and we happened to be the nearest metaphorical punching bags. He didn't mean any of the shit he just said. I bet he'll calm down by tomorrow. Hell, he might even apologize." He gave a two fingered salute to the gang. "I'll see you kids tomorrow, eh?" With a wave, he headed off in the direction of his own car.

The gang watched him as he left.

"I wish I was as well-adjusted as Tony Moretti," Fred remarked.

Everyone chuckled as the tension broke.

x.X.x

As Velma lay in bed that evening trying to sleep, she couldn't help but think about everything Tony had said after rehearsal. He was so eager to believe the best in people. It was one of the things she'd liked about him. To be honest, she still liked it about him. But it had never been romantic with Tony, even when they'd tried to make it that way. There was something far different about what was happening with Shaggy.

If it was even happening anymore.

Above Velma's desk was a bulletin board, where she'd pinned a drawing that Shaggy had created of her on the day they met last year. She caught sight of the picture and sighed. She still had a crush on Shaggy, and she knew there was something there for him, too. She also knew that Scooby was the thing that was holding him back, dumb as that was. But her friendship with them both was too important for her to jeopardize. Although she wasn't quite ready to apologize yet. She was still feeling mad, and a little embarrassed about what had happened in the practice room this afternoon.

With a sigh, she turned over on her side, facing away from Shaggy's drawing.

x.X.x

Shaggy, meanwhile, was also lying in bed and thinking about things that had been said after rehearsal. But not something Tony had said. Something that Holden had said to Tony.

_"Trying to get back with your ex-girlfriend?"_ he'd spat.

Shaggy clenched his hands around his blankets, trying not to wake Scooby Doo at the foot of the bed. Was that why Tony had auditioned? Because he'd seen Velma and the rest of them go in for the interest meeting on the first day of school, and wanted to get closer with her again?

"_Have you ever liked a girl so much that the idea of her dating some other guy made you crazy?"_ Fred's voice repeated in his head.

This jealousy that Shaggy felt was debilitating. And unfair. He recognized that he couldn't control anything that happened between Velma and Tony, especially when Shaggy refused to define his own relationship with her.

He couldn't deny that they had some kind of relationship. A physical one, at the very least. That was part of what was so painful for Shaggy – he knew it was wrong, but even though they were fighting now, he still wanted to keep up what they had going on in the practice room.

He shut his eyes and grimaced, as if by ignoring all his problems, they might vanish overnight.

* * *

**Sponge: Thanks for reading. Sorry this chapter lacked romance and mystery solving, but there will be some Fraphne action next week – and maybe an appearance by the Phantom. In the meantime, review if you please!**


	8. I Dreamed A Dance

**Sponge: Here's chapter 8! This will be a long one, so let's get the show on the road. Warning: language and some graphic Fraphne romance. Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Scooby Doo characters. They belong to Cartoon Network, Warner Brothers, and Hanna-Barbera. All lyrics to the songs "Make Up Your Mind/Catch Me I'm Falling," and "I Dreamed a Dance" belong to Brian Yorkey. Any dialogue in bold comes directly from the **_**Next to Normal **_**script.**

* * *

**Chapter 8: I Dreamed a Dance**

Tony was right. The first thing Holden did before rehearsal the following afternoon was gather the cast on the stage to apologize. Mr. Atwood hadn't arrived yet, and the tech crew were all backstage completing various tasks.

"What I did yesterday was really uncool," he said with a shrug. "I don't know, I guess I'm just feeling overwhelmed with everything and yesterday was really bad and I took it out on you."

Tony raised an eyebrow at Velma, as if to say, _See, what'd I tell ya?_ Shaggy noticed, and gritted his teeth.

"I'm really sorry for everything I said. Especially to you, Daphne." Holden glanced at her apologetically but Daphne, kindhearted as she was, appeared to have already forgiven him. She waved her hand in an easygoing manner.

"All water under the bridge," she told him with a winning smile. He grinned back at her. Fred bristled. Shaggy noticed this as well.

"We accept your apology too," Tony said, clapping Holden genially on the shoulder. It seemed that everything was back to normal – apart from Shaggy and Velma. They had opted not to go to the practice room again this afternoon, which Scooby found rather suspicious. He ruminated on this as he headed upstairs to the wood loft, where he had been tasked by Leesa to inventory how many six-foot-long beams there were. Since the drama students had already begun the process of building the set, Mr. Atwood had decided to just go ahead and get started. Scooby remembered that he'd seen several beams leaning up against the wall the day the cast list went up, and Daphne had showed them around.

The woody smell invaded his sensitive nose as soon as he opened the door to the loft. As he approached the beams of wood on the far side of the room, Scooby noticed another smell mixed in with the wood. He stood still and tried to figure out what it was. There was a synthetic scent to it, so he knew it wasn't something natural. Maybe it was the fake flowers Shaggy needed for "Make Up Your Mind," though Scooby couldn't imagine why they'd be up here. It seemed as though the smell, whatever it was, came from behind the beams of wood. He nudged aside the beams to look behind them…and gasped.

Stacked neatly behind the beams were not only Shaggy's flowers, but _all _the missing props. The backpack, the pill bottles, the textbooks…everything. It was all there. Scooby backed away from the hiding place and looked around. On the other side of the room was the entryway to the catwalk, where Scooby had seen the Phantom last week. Was Leesa right? Was the Phantom stealing the props to make trouble? Was she nearby right now?

Scooby bolted from the room.

Back in the auditorium, Mr. Atwood had just arrived. "All right everybody, shut the –"

But he was interrupted by Scooby barreling down the stairs and across the stage. He bounded down to the apron where the cast was still gathered.

"Rye round rhe rops!" Scooby barked.

Mr. Atwood turned to Shaggy. "What's he blathering about?"

"Like, you found the props?" Shaggy asked, bewildered.

"Ruh-huh! Ruh-huh!" Scooby nodded.

"Where were they?" asked Daphne.

"Rin rhe rood roft."

Leesa furrowed her brow. "The wood loft? How the hell did they get up there?"

"Maybe it was the Phantom…wooooooo," Holden teased, making a spooky ghost sound.

Scooby didn't think it was very funny – it was exactly what he'd thought.

"Show us where they are, Scoob," Fred said, beckoning for the rest of the gang to accompany him.

Everyone followed Scooby up the stairs to the wood loft. Tony, Holden, and Leesa came along too. At the last minute, Mr. Atwood sent Corinne Faulkner and a few members of her team to help collect and return the props.

"Be quick," he called after them. "We need to get started – we have a lot to make up for from yesterday."

When the students arrived in the wood loft, they all stared in confusion at the hiding place for the props.

"They're all here," Leesa murmured. "What the hell?"

Fred turned to Corinne. "Do you know anything about this?"

The props mistress shook her head. "Nothing. I have no idea how this happened."

"Whoever took the props must be a drama student, or otherwise involved in the production somehow," Velma pointed out. "How else would they know to hide the things up here, where no one would find them until set construction began?"

"What, are you saying one of us did it?" asked a stagehand.

"Did you?" asked Velma bluntly.

"Of course not!" the stagehand replied. The rest of the props crew spoke up to defend themselves as well.

"Then the next question," Daphne interrupted. "Is how did none of us see these when we were here yesterday during class, gathering wood for the set?"

"Well, no one was looking for these beams," Leesa pointed out, gesturing towards the wood that Scooby had been tasked to count. "They would have been easy to overlook. And like you said, no one's been in here till yesterday afternoon. Someone could have snuck them in at any time without us seeing."

"Maybe someone like…the Phantom?" Holden laughed again.

Leesa whirled around to face him. "What if it _was_ her?" she cried. "It wasn't me, it wasn't Scooby, it wasn't Corinne, it wasn't the drama class, and I assume it wasn't you or anyone else in the cast. So who else could it have been?"

Holden said nothing.

x.X.x

Throughout the rest of the week, the cast continued to work on "Make Up Your Mind/Catch Me I'm Falling" so that by Friday, it was almost decent. Even though they weren't there yet, everyone recognized the need to move on. They hadn't even touched Act II yet. Thankfully, the props stayed where they were meant to stay, but Fred spent a lot of time during rehearsal that week trying to figure out who could have a motive to hide them. It unsurprisingly did not help with his line memorization.

When everyone returned the following Monday, the cast gathered on stage and sat around to talk while waiting for Mr. Atwood to arrive. Shaggy and Velma ignored each other. They still hadn't spoken directly since the previous week, when they'd argued in the practice room, and their onstage chemistry was suffering for it – as was their offstage friendship.

"Buy your tickets to homecoming yet?" Tony asked them, dropping down cross-legged next to Velma. Shaggy clenched his jaw and looked away.

"Yep!" Daphne answered from her other side. "Fred and I bought ours last week. Velma and I went dress shopping over the weekend."

Shaggy glanced up. He hadn't known that.

"Cool," Holden said. "Let me guess." He pointed at Daphne. "Purple, and…" he pointed to Velma, "orange."

"How'd you guess?" Velma asked dryly.

Holden and Tony both chuckled.

"I bought my tickets at lunch today," Velma told Tony. Shaggy tried to seem casual, but he was reeling inside. He hadn't noticed Velma buying tickets. It must have happened while he'd been in the lunch line, avoiding her gaze as usual.

"Neat!" Tony clapped her on the back. "So I'll see you there, then?"

Velma nodded. "Yep."

Tony jerked his chin at Shaggy. "How about you, Rogers? You gonna go to homecoming this year?"

"Re rhould ro," Scooby piped up. "Rit rounds run!"

Shaggy glanced out of the corner of his eye at Velma. She wasn't looking at him, and seemed coolly disinterested. Shaggy narrowed his eyes. Two could play at this game.

"Like yeah," he said, to Tony, but for Velma's benefit. "We should go, Scooby Doo. We'll buy tickets tomorrow." Velma cut her eyes at him, and Shaggy felt smug.

When Mr. Atwood arrived a moment later, he announced that they would pick up at the end of "Make Up Your Mind" for the lead up to "I Dreamed a Dance," a song that featured Daphne and Holden as Diana and Gabe.

Everyone set the scene. Tony, Daphne, and Holden sat in the section of the stage meant to be Dr. Madden's office. Fred, Shaggy and Velma walked to the piano, where Natalie has her disastrous recital. Scooby and Leesa sat in the front row of the house, ready to give line cues if necessary. None of the stagehands were needed at rehearsal today, and all the other crew members were working on costumes or lights. The pit orchestra listened intently as Mr. Atwood and Mr. Harrison gave them notes.

Shaggy and Velma waited near the piano and avoided eye contact. He knew the right thing to do was to apologize to her. He knew he'd hurt her feelings last week. But acknowledging that meant that they'd have to talk about what this meant for them. Shaggy knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he felt something for Velma, but he was far too chicken to admit to himself – or to her – what it was. So, they just didn't speak.

"Dinkley, Rogers, get set," Mr. Atwood called. Shaggy and Velma glanced at each other. The script called for Natalie to be sitting at the piano bench with Henry, who eventually leads her away after the recital goes wrong. Without looking at him in the eye, Velma sat down on the bench. Shaggy followed suit. Since the bench was so small, there wasn't much space for the two of them to spread out, so they were quite near each other. He tried to ignore the electricity between them.

The worst thing about this wasn't just the fact that there was tension between them. To their credit, Fred and Daphne were too wrapped up in the mystery and the play to notice. The worst part wasn't even the fact that Shaggy had gone so long without a "bonding" session with Velma that he could hardly think of anything else. Though, it was extremely inconvenient. He was all too aware of how close they were to each other right now, and lack of physical contact with her was making him crave her touch more than normal. But it wasn't even all of this that was the worst part.

The worst part was…he missed her.

Before anything else, Velma was his friend. He enjoyed her company, and the fact that they weren't talking to each other right now was killing him. But he just couldn't get up the nerve to extend the olive branch.

"All right everyone," Mr. Atwood said. "We'll pick up from the end of 'Make Up Your Mind,' with the quartet between Diana, Dan, Gabe, and Natalie, while Dr. Madden has dialogue. Moretti, you know the place I mean?"

Tony nodded.

"Action!" Mr. Atwood cried. The pit band played the music.

"_Catch me I'm falling," _sang Daphne, Fred, Velma, and Holden.

"**Unresolved loss can lead to depression," **Tony, as Dr. Madden, said. Daphne/Diana sat on a chair in front of him, in the middle of a hypnotherapy session.

"_Catch me I'm falling."_

"**Fear of loss, to anxiety."**

"_Flying headfirst into fate._

_Catch me, I'm falling…"_

Shaggy/Henry, who didn't sing during this part, gently took Velma/Natalie's arm to help her up from the piano. She resisted at first, so well that Shaggy couldn't tell if she was in character or not.

"**The more you hold on to something you lost…" **Tony/Dr. Madden said.

"_Please hear me calling," _the others sang.

"…**the more you fear losing it," **he continued.

"_Catch me before it's too late," _sang the rest.

At this point, Velma/Natalie let Shaggy/Henry help her up from the bench and held onto him to keep herself steady. Shaggy gripped her gently, trying not to breathe her scent too deeply or think about how her closeness made him feel.

"_Catch me before it's too late," _they sang again.

Tony/Dr. Madden: **"Depression, anxiety." **

Others: _"Catch me before it's too late."_

Tony/Dr. Madden: **"Depression, anxiety….one gives rise to the other." **

Others: _"Catch me I'm falling._

_Catch me I'm falling._

_Catch me I'm falling…"_

Tony/Dr. Madden looked seriously at Daphne/Diana as the music cut out. **"Wouldn't you like to be free from all that? Finally? Wouldn't you like to go home, clear out his room…maybe spend some time with your daughter? And let your son go, at last?"**

Shaggy/Henry cleared his throat. **"Uh. Should we go?" **he said to Velma/Natalie.

Velma/Natalie took a breath, then nodded. **"Yes."**

"**Yes," **Daphne/Diana echoed.

Holden/Gabe looked horrorstruck. **"Mom," **he murmured.

"**Yes," **Daphne/Diana repeated. **"I would."**

This was their cue to exit. Shaggy and Velma broke apart and fled for the stage-right wings, with Tony and Holden close behind. Only Fred and Daphne remained onstage.

Fred carried a large box to Daphne, full of things from Dan and Diana's son's room.

"**This is good, Di," **Fred/Dan told her. **"It's a good start."**

"It's a good _step,_" Leesa corrected him from the front of the house.

Fred gritted his teeth and rolled his eyes. **"It's a good step," **he repeated.

Then he, too, exited.

Everyone but Holden descended the stairs from the stage to the house and took seats in the audience to watch as the pit orchestra started up. Daphne looked at the box, reached in, and pulled out a music box. She gazed at it tenderly and began to sing in her sweet voice.

"_I saw you light the ballroom_

_With your sparkling eyes of blue_

_Graceful as an angel's wing,_

_I dreamed a dance with you."_

Holden had disappeared into the boy's dressing room after the end of the previous scene, and re-emerged now. As the script called for, he was dressed in a tuxedo. Everyone gawked at him. He looked absolutely stunning.

"Geez, Harmony's been working overtime," Tony muttered. They weren't supposed to start work with costumes till the following week.

Daphne seemed taken aback by Holden's transformation, but recovered quickly.

"_You whispered slyly, softly," _she sang.

"_You told me you would be true_

_We spun around a thousand stars_

_I dreamed a dance with you."_

They began a lovely dance that they had somehow, clearly, been practicing. Shaggy had to admit, they looked incredible.

"I hate this," Fred murmured to Shaggy. He turned to face his blonde friend, who was gazing sullenly at Daphne and Holden as they danced.

"Relax, man," Shaggy whispered back. "They're like, playing mother and son."

"That's true," Fred replied. "And he's gay."

"He is?" Shaggy asked.

Fred shrugged. "That's what Daphne told me. Apparently he's got a boyfriend at Coolsville U."

But Fred sounded unsure of himself. Shaggy turned back to watch Holden more closely.

"_I know the night is dying, dear," _Daphne sang now.

"_I know the day will dawn."_

She and Holden sang together.

"_The dancers may disappear_

_Still the dance goes on."_

Holden, alone now.

"_And on…"_

He kissed Daphne's hand and stepped away. Shaggy noticed Fred stiffen.

But Daphne had disappeared entirely. Only Diana remained now. She looked at Gabe wistfully, a mother who missed her son.

"_I'll wake alone tomorrow," _she sang.

"_The dream of our dances through._

_But now until forever, love_

_I'll live to dance with you._

_I'll dream, my love…_

_I'll live, my love…_

_And I'll die to dance with…"_

As the song ended, Shaggy felt his throat tighten. All other thoughts had left his brain. Inexplicably, he found himself thinking of his own mother. His own family.

_I knew this play was gonna be a bad idea, _he thought to himself.

"I'll like, be right back," he murmured to Fred, squeezing by him. "Bathroom." He didn't notice Scooby watching him from the front row with a sympathetic expression on his face. Scooby knew why Shaggy was upset. He just hoped no one else noticed Shaggy leaving.

But, of course, Velma did.

x.X.x

They had nearly finished blocking all of Act I by Friday, and everyone felt relieved. Even though they'd all have to come back to school on Sunday for a catch-up rehearsal, Daphne, in particular, felt as though she was on cloud nine. She was really getting into her character, she got along well with everyone in the cast (especially now that Holden had apologized), and on Saturday, she was going to have a romantic date to the homecoming dance with the love of her life. And, as she'd told Velma the previous weekend when they bought their dresses, this was the night she was finally going to tell him she loved him.

On Saturday evening, Velma came over so they could get ready together. Admittedly, Daphne was more excited about this particular aspect than Velma was. The boys weren't going to pick them up for another hour, but Velma was already in her orange halter dress (something Daphne had helped her pick out last weekend) sitting stiffly on Daphne's desk chair while the other girl sat at the vanity and combed a brush through her red hair for the millionth time.

"Velm at least put some mascara on or something," Daphne said over her shoulder. She was wearing shorts and a button-down shirt while she got ready – her strapless purple cocktail dress hung on the back of the door to her walk-in closet.

"I did!" Velma replied, rolling her eyes. "Madelyn helped me. You should have seen her and my parents – they made such a big deal about all this. We FaceTimed with Dottie and Bill too, and even they were gushing over me like I was some pageant contestant." Velma plucked at the shimmery orange fabric of the dress. It was a lot more form-fitting than what she would normally wear. She had to wear a similar dress for the play too, and she was dreading it a little. Velma's curves were still relatively new to her, and she was rather self conscious about them. She wore that baggy turtleneck every day for a reason.

"You're a pretty girl, Velm," Daphne said as she began putting on mascara herself. "And you've got a nice figure if you'd show it off once in a while." She considered herself thoughtfully in the mirror. "Kinda sad that your twelve-year-old sister knows more about applying makeup than you do, though."

Velma rolled her eyes. "She's still annoyed that my mom won't let her wear makeup till she's in high school."

"My parents had that rule with me and my sisters, too," Daphne said. "Maybe it's a parent thing."

"Speaking of parents," Velma said in a low voice. "How are things with yours?"

Daphne pursed her lips. "Not great," she admitted. "My dad didn't even come home for dinner tonight. He arrived just before you came over and as soon as he came home, Mom immediately went to lie down." She shook her head. "It's like they can't even stand to be in the same room with each other."

Velma frowned sympathetically. "I'm so sorry, Daph. I wish I knew how to help."

"You can help by distracting me." Daphne turned away from the vanity to face Velma. "Tell me about your niece! Was she there when you FaceTimed Dottie?"

Velma grinned, glad to talk about happier things. "Yes, and she's still adorable as ever. She'll be three months in a few weeks – I can't believe it!"

Velma and Daphne talked about Lorelei for a long time until Daphne peeked at her phone for the time.

"Jeepers!" she exclaimed. "The boys will be here any minute. Hang on." Daphne grabbed the dress off the back of the door and disappeared into the walk-in closet. "Can you zip me up?" She came back into the room and held her dress in place while Velma fastened it for her. Once the dress was on, Daphne looked at herself in the full-length mirror.

"What do you think?" she asked, turning to face Velma.

"You look great, Daph," Velma replied.

"I hope Fred thinks so too," Daphne sighed. They looked in the mirror.

"Are you ready?" Velma asked. "For tonight?"

"Yes," Daphne said, though she still felt nervous. She forced herself to think positive. "Tonight's going to be perfect, Velma. I just know it is."

x.X.x

The boys arrived to pick up the girls in the Mystery Machine and of course, Fred found Daphne gorgeous. He looked pretty stunning himself in a tailored navy suit. Shaggy wore a brown suit with a green tie, and even Scooby had dressed for the occasion, with a little blue bowtie affixed to his collar.

Velma tried not to notice how handsome Shaggy looked in his suit – it even appeared he'd combed his hair slightly for the occasion. Shaggy, in turn, tried desperately not to stare at Velma, and the way the fabric of the dress clung to her body.

Fred and Daphne held hands the entire drive to the school, too enamored with each other and excited for the night to pay much attention to their friends. If they'd been more observant, they might have noticed that Shaggy and Velma sat on opposite sides of the van with Scooby between them, neither looking at the other.

As it was, Scooby noticed.

He'd been noticing Shaggy and Velma acting strangely around each other for weeks now, ever since the day Holden got mad at everyone in the parking lot. Scooby was always too busy at rehearsals, and then too tired at home to talk to Shaggy about it. But now the tension in the air was thick enough to slice, and it was making Scooby uncomfortable.

Once they arrived at the dance, it got a little better. In the gym, they mingled with their fellow classmates and danced a bit. Shaggy and Scooby kept going back and forth to the snack table for chips and punch. Velma, out of the corner of her eye, noticed their nemesis Maureen Fischer skulking nearby with her cronies, Rachael Amora and Phoebe Albion. The three girls ignored the gang as they walked past. Velma was thankful that they hadn't given the gang any trouble since the previous year, when they'd spread a rumor that Daphne and Fred had had sex at a party.

"Mystery Inc!" came the recognizable New York accent of Tony Moretti. Everyone waved as he approached, smiling. He looked handsome in his dark suit.

"Good lookin' bunch here," he said, nodding his approval. "I especially like your tie, Scooby."

"Rank rou!" Scooby barked.

"Dinks, you look nice," Tony said to Velma. Shaggy grabbed a handful of chips from his plate and stuffed them in his mouth to distract himself.

"Thanks, Tony," Velma murmured, glancing surreptitiously at Shaggy. She had noticed his odd behavior, even if Tony hadn't. Scooby noticed, too.

A slow song started up. Daphne and Fred gave each other a simple look, and glided off to the dance floor.

"You wanna dance?" Tony said to Velma.

Shaggy very nearly punched him in the face.

Velma glanced over at Shaggy again and saw that his face was contorted in frustration, though he kept looking away as if by avoiding her gaze, she wouldn't realize. She bit her lip thoughtfully, the wheels in her mind turning. Shaggy seemed very averse to the idea of Velma dancing with Tony, even though he had no reason to be. Velma could confront him about it.

Or she could have some fun of her own.

"Sure, Tony," she said with a smile. "Let's go." She took his arm and let him lead her out to the dance floor. She noticed, with satisfaction, that Shaggy seemed to be seething.

Indeed, he was. Shaggy watched them go and felt pain and jealousy well up in the pit of his stomach. He wanted so badly to be the one out there with her, swaying with her to the music. Holding her close. Maybe bringing her face up to his for a gentle kiss.

He shook his head to rid his mind of the image and plopped down on the bleachers. Scooby followed. He couldn't avoid this any longer – he had to talk to him.

"Raggy," he said. "Rut's wrong?"

Shaggy sighed and didn't look at Scooby. "Like nothing's wrong, buddy."

"Rome on," Scooby chided him. "Rye'm rot roopid."

Shaggy still avoided the dog's gaze, but Scooby moved directly in front of him so they were eye to eye. He needed to get to the bottom of this awkwardness between his friends.

He inclined his head out towards the dance floor. "Rut's roing on retween rou rand Relma?"

Shaggy froze.

"Like nothing's going on between us, Scooby Doo, that's ridiculous," he said much too quickly. He shot to his feet. "I'm gonna like, go get some more punch, I'll be right back."

And with that, he left Scooby staring confusedly after him.

When Shaggy reached the punch bowl, he took a few deep breaths to calm himself. It had been so much easier to sneak around with Velma than to be mad at her – Scooby hadn't caught wind of anything they did in the practice room, but the minute they stopped talking, he was suddenly like an FBI agent. _Well, we like, __are__ detectives, _Shaggy reminded himself as he scooped some punch into a cup. But still.

"You clean up nicely."

Shaggy turned his head at the voice, and found Holden Walsh striding towards him.

"Dude," Shaggy said. "Isn't that like, your costume for the play?"

Holden shot him a charming grin. "Don't tell Harmony." He glanced down at his tuxedo. "You think maybe I'm overdressed?"

Shaggy looked around. "Well, I think you are the only one here who's like, wearing a tux."

Holden chuckled. "So Moretti's dancing with your girl, huh?" He indicated the direction he meant with his chin, and Shaggy followed his gaze to where Tony and Velma swayed together.

Shaggy tensed. "She's not my girl, man," he muttered. He felt a stone form in his stomach as he said it. Wow, he didn't know he'd have such a negative reaction to the truth.

Holden shrugged. "You two have chemistry, onstage at least. Or, you used to, at any rate. Maybe she _should_ be your girl." He glanced back over at them. Then, almost to himself, he said, "She's like a different person in that dress. Even _I_ have half a mind to hit that."

Shaggy felt his blood boil as he whirled around to face Holden. But surprisingly, Holden was grinning amicably, as though he'd just delivered the punchline to a joke.

"Kidding," he said. "Wow, you should see your face."

With that, he jerked his chin up by way of farewell and walked off, leaving Shaggy feeling more confused and flustered than he had been before.

x.X.x

Once on the dance floor, Velma's guilt caught up with her.

Yes, Shaggy should admit his feelings for her, but she wasn't being very mature about this either. Hadn't she just been thinking to herself the other week that Shaggy's friendship was more important to her than any of the other stuff that had been going on between them? (Though Velma would be the first to admit that the practice room perks had been pretty damn amazing). Regardless, she couldn't deny that she missed him like crazy, even without the "bonding" they'd been doing. He was one of her best friends. Not talking to him had been torture.

Her mind was made up. She would swallow her feelings for him and apologize so they could go back to being friends.

But first, she had to set Tony straight. Even if nothing was going to happen with Shaggy, Velma didn't want to lead Tony on.

"Listen, Tony," Velma said. They swayed together in the middle of the dance floor, though their embrace wasn't nearly as intimate as, say, Daphne and Fred's. "I hope...I hope you're okay with us just remaining friends."

Tony furrowed his brows at her in puzzlement. "As opposed to what?"

Velma felt herself blush. Had she been totally misreading things? "You know...as opposed to...getting back together?" She bit her lip in embarrassment.

Tony stopped dancing and looked at her seriously. "Dinks," he said. "I don't want to get back together. I swear, the thought had never even crossed my mind. I mean, it was nice when we were together like that, but I think we both know it wasn't right."

Velma's face burned and she looked down. "I'm so sorry, Tony. I feel like an idiot."

He chuckled and started dancing again. "Don't worry about it, Dinks. Ever since Holden brought it up that one time, I figured we'd have to talk about it eventually." He grinned at her. "I promise, all I've ever wanted was to be your friend. And Shaggy's and Daphne's and Fred's." It was the first time Velma had ever heard Tony refer to anyone by their first name. "Plus," he continued. "If you don't mind me sayin', it looks to me like you've got it pretty bad for him." He jerked his head towards Shaggy, who was standing by the punch bowl, staring into space.

Velma groaned. "Is it that obvious?"

Tony laughed out loud. "Only to me, 'cause I've known you for so long. Also, I'm pretty good at reading people. And to be honest, I think maybe he feels the same way about you."

"I wish _he _would figure that out," Velma grumbled.

Tony chuckled again. "Don't worry, Dinks. He'll tell you when he's ready."

Several couples away, totally oblivious to Tony and Velma's conversation, Daphne and Fred were having one of their own.

"This is so romantic, Freddie," Daphne said. She rested her cheek on his chest and sighed blissfully.

"I know," Fred murmured into her hair. He held one of her hands, his other arm wrapped around her waist. He had to admit, feeling her body on his like this was making it difficult for him to think properly.

Daphne, too, was having trouble keeping her mind from wandering. She was so nervous about telling him she loved him, even though she was ready and she wanted to tell him. Not here, on the dance floor. But definitely here, at the dance.

In an effort to distract herself from her nerves, she glanced around the room. She saw Shaggy walking from the punch bowl to the bleachers. Did he seem glum? He was too far away for Daphne to tell his facial expression.

A few couples away she saw Velma dancing with someone. A moment later, she realized it was Tony Moretti. She blinked in surprise. Why was Velma dancing with her ex-boyfriend? Was she over Shaggy? Was she trying to get back together with Tony?

"What are you thinking about?" Fred asked.

Daphne blinked and looked up at him. She didn't want to tell him that she was suspicious about Velma dancing with Tony. Fred didn't know about Velma's feelings for Shaggy, and Daphne knew it had to stay that way.

"I'm thinking about you," Daphne said, standing on her toes to kiss him.

He kissed her back fervently and Daphne felt her heart catch fire. All other thoughts evaporated from her brain.

"Freddie," she whispered, her mouth very close to his ear. If she was going to tell him she loved him, she'd better do it now while she had the nerve. "Can we go out into the hallway? Just for a minute?"

Fred nodded, and the two of them slipped away. They found themselves in the hall near the locker rooms.

"What's up, babe?" Fred asked, leaning against a wall.

Daphne shook her head and stood close to him. "I just wanted to go somewhere private." _So I can tell you that I'm madly in love with you, _she didn't say.

Fred grinned devilishly at her. "Well..." he looked around the hall. "It appears we're the only ones here." He placed a hand on the small of her back and brought her flush against him. "Can't get much more private than that."

Daphne was astounded to notice a slight firmness under his pants as she pressed against him. She grinned seductively up at him. "And it appears _you're_ pretty eager for something," she murmured into his ear. Fred shivered and clutched her tighter.

"I've been eager since we picked you up and I saw you in that dress," he growled, leeching his mouth onto her neck.

Daphne's eyes fluttered shut. "Freddie, are you trying to seduce me?" she whispered, feeling his fingers ghost over her chest.

"Is it working?" he asked in return.

Aflame with passion, they came together, lips opening against each other. Daphne's heart thumped with adrenaline as she clutched the back of Fred's neck. With a gasp, she felt his face move down her neck and shoulder all the way to her chest, where he carefully pushed down her strapless dress and kissed her now exposed breast.

A thrill of pleasure jolted down Daphne's spine as she felt his mouth open against her. Heat converged on her center and she pressed herself closer to him.

"Freddie..." she sighed, unbuttoning his pants to slip her hand inside.

Fred gasped at the contact, and sucked on her perfect breast in response to her soft touch on him. Neither of them were thinking properly. All they knew was that they wanted each other. Daphne's skin was aflame, her brain fuzzy with want and need and love. The sentence was on the tip of her tongue as Fred caressed her.

"Freddie…" she gasped. "I…"

Just then, they heard footsteps down the hallway.

Hurriedly they broke apart and fixed themselves – Daphne pulled her dress back up and Fred buttoned his pants. They had just finished when they heard a voice.

"Mr. Jones? Ms. Blake?"

It was Mr. Aiken, their homeroom teacher.

"What are you doing out in the hallway?" he asked, puzzled.

"Just…talking," Daphne said evasively. "The music was a little loud in there. But we're on our way back now."

He looked at them sternly. "Yes, please. You know students aren't supposed to be anywhere but the gym during the dance."

Fred and Daphne nodded quickly, and rushed back into the gym. _So much for my plan, _Daphne thought to herself.

Once they'd arrived, they were greeted by a worried Shaggy.

"Like have you guys seen Scooby Doo?" he asked. "The last time I saw him he was on the bleachers and now he's like, gone."

Velma and Tony approached them. "What's the trouble?" asked Tony.

Shaggy said nothing, stone-faced.

"No Shag, we haven't seen Scooby," Fred replied.

"Scooby's missing?" Velma sounded alarmed.

"Well, there aren't many places he could have gone," Daphne replied. "He'll turn up eventually."

"Like shouldn't we go look for him?" asked Shaggy.

Fred shook his head. "We can't. Mr. Aiken is out patrolling the halls, and we'll get in trouble if he finds us out there again."

"Again?" asked Velma suspiciously.

Daphne felt her face turn red. "If Scooby's out in the hall, a teacher will find him and bring him back," she said, ignoring Velma's stare.

x.X.x

Scooby, indeed, was walking the halls. He needed some time – and some quiet – to figure out why Shaggy was acting so strangely. It seemed like Shaggy and Velma were fighting about something. But what? And why wouldn't he tell Scooby about it?

His aimless wanderings had led him to the auditorium. He knew it would be quiet in there – he could still hear music from the gym wafting down the hall. He tried the door, expecting to need to pick the lock with his nail, but was surprised to find that it was already unlocked. Shrugging, he headed inside.

And immediately wished he hadn't.

The theater was absolutely dark, except for a lone lamp standing on the apron of the stage. Daphne had told them about this lamp. It was called the ghost light. It served several purposes – the main was to illuminate the theater when no one was in there so it wouldn't be completely dark. That way, when the time came for people to use it, they could at least see where they were going to turn on the house lights. Another use, Scooby remembered, was a superstitious one. It was meant to appease the Phantom of the Auditorium.

Scooby was about to turn tail and leave the theater when he noticed something wispy moving about behind the ghost light on the darkened stage. Fear coursed through him as he realized it was the Phantom.

He bolted from the theater.

Back in the gym, the others waited by the bleachers when Scooby came racing in through the door.

"Like, Scoob!" Shaggy exclaimed, rushing to greet him. "Where were you, buddy?"

"Rye raw rhe Rhantom ragain!" he cried.

Daphne furrowed her brow. "The Phantom? Were you in the auditorium just now?"

"Ruh-huh!" Scooby nodded.

"Let's go investigate," said Fred.

"Like, are you out of your mind?" Shaggy hissed. "There's a ghost in there! And like, didn't you just say that Mr. Aiken was out in the hall?"

"I have Dinks' number," Tony piped up. "I'll keep an eye out and text you guys if I see a teacher going that way."

"Thanks, Tony," said Velma. Shaggy clenched his jaw.

The gang left the gym and snuck down the hall towards the auditorium. They paused at every corner to make sure Mr. Aiken wasn't nearby. Every small noise made them freeze. At last they arrived at the auditorium, breathing sighs of relief that they'd made it unscathed. But just as Fred was about to reach for the door, it opened from the other side.

Everyone screamed.

"Geez, you guys scared me," said the person who was coming out of the theater. It was Holden, wearing street clothes.

"_Re _rared _roo?" _Scooby asked, trying to slow his beating heart.

"What are you doing in here?" asked Daphne.

"Returning my tux," Holden replied. "I borrowed it for the dance, but wanted to put it back before rehearsal tomorrow. Can you believe we have to come in on a Sunday just to play catch up?"

"Did you notice anything odd in there?" Fred asked.

Holden furrowed his brow. "What do you mean 'odd'?"

"Scooby saw the Phantom again," Velma said.

Holden laughed out loud. "Right. Listen, I know I was cavalier about all of this last week, and I am sorry about that. I don't know what kind of bullshit Leesa and the other seniors have been feeding you, but there's no Phantom here." He opened the door wider. "The ghost light keeps her away, see?"

Everyone peered in to look behind him. Indeed, the ghost light illuminated the otherwise empty stage.

"Maybe you're just stressed, and you're seeing things?" Holden suggested.

Scooby glared at him. "Rye roe rhat Rye raw," he stated.

Holden held his hands up. "All right, whatever." He waved. "See you kids at rehearsal tomorrow." With that, he left out the main door of the school.

Velma crossed her arms over her chest thoughtfully. "It's kind of suspicious that Holden just happened to be in the last place Scooby saw the ghost."

"I agree," said Fred. "Let's go look around."

_Bzzt bzzt._

"Rut ruz rat?" asked Scooby.

"My phone," Velma replied, reaching into the pocket of her dress. "It's a text from Tony. He says Mr. Aiken's coming!"

But before they could do anything, they heard the sound of footsteps fast approaching. It was Mr. Aiken, and he was frowning.

"Mr. Jones, Ms. Blake," he said. "Didn't I just tell you that you needed to be back in the gym? I'm disappointed in you both." He turned to Shaggy and Velma. "You too, Mr. Rogers and Ms. Dinkley. I'll give you kids a choice. You can either go back to the dance, or you can go home. But you can't hang out in the hall."

Daphne put a hand on Fred's arm. "It's okay, babe," she whispered. "We'll get a chance to look around tomorrow." To Mr. Aiken, she said, "Sorry, Mr. Aiken. We were just leaving."

He folded his arms. "All right. Have a nice rest of your long weekend," he said. He waited until they had left the building before he headed back down the hall.

With a sigh, the gang headed for the Mystery Machine, defeated, but determined to do better tomorrow.

* * *

**Sponge: I know this was a super long chapter. Thanks for reading it. Review if you please!**


	9. A Light in the Dark

**Sponge: Here's chapter 9! Thanks for reading. Warning: language, as always, plus kissing and mentions of attempted suicide in the play. Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Scooby Doo characters. They belong to Cartoon Network, Warner Brothers, and Hanna-Barbera. All dialogue in bold comes from the **_**Next to Normal **_**script. The lyrics to the songs "I Dreamed A Dance", "There's a World," and "A Light in the Dark" belong to Brian Yorkey.**

* * *

**Chapter 9: A Light in the Dark**

Because they'd left the dance so suddenly, Velma hadn't been able to ask Daphne how her conversation with Fred had gone, so she had to wait till rehearsal the next morning. She couldn't very well ask her in the Mystery Machine though, as Fred, Shaggy, and Scooby were all in hearing distance, and only found a chance to talk to Daphne alone as they headed to their dressing room once they arrived at school.

"So…" Velma ventured as they dropped off their bags and scripts. "How'd it go?"

"How'd what go?" asked Daphne.

"Your conversation with Fred," Velma replied. "Did you ever tell him?"

Daphne sighed and shut the dressing room door. "No," she said in a low voice as she sat on the couch.

Velma frowned sympathetically. "I'm sorry, Daph. What happened?"

"Mr. Aiken happened," Daphne replied ruefully. "He was like, this close to catching us." She pushed her thumb and forefinger together so they were less than a centimeter apart.

"Catching you doing what?" asked Velma.

Daphne felt her face turn red, and the blush spoke for itself.

Velma sighed. "Daph, come on. First in the parking lot, then in the hall…next thing you know, you'll be going at it on Scooby's ASM desk."

"Um," said Daphne, her face reddening even further.

Velma rolled her eyes. "Daphne!" she scolded. "What the hell?"

"I can't help it!" Daphne exclaimed. "Every time I get close to telling him I love him, I freak out with nerves and can't do it. It's a big thing to say to somebody – and honestly, his head is so wrapped up in this mystery, I _wouldn't _be surprised if he didn't say it back. I worry about it all the time, and fooling around with him relieves a lot of that stress. I can't describe it – it's like when I'm kissing him, all my worries just…disappear." She shrugged. "Besides, it would be a lot less scary to tell him I love him if I don't have to look him in the eye when I say it."

Velma arched an eyebrow. "Won't it be better if you're looking him in the eye when you say it?"

Daphne shrugged again. Desperate to change the subject, she poked Velma's shoulder. "By the way, what was up with you and Tony last night? I saw you dancing with him. Are you guys back together? What happened to Shaggy?"

Velma felt embarrassment color her cheeks. "Nothing's happening with Shaggy. I'd rather just be friends anyway. Nothing's happening with Tony, either. He just wants to be friends, too. He told me so himself."

Daphne raised her eyebrows. "That's a lot of guys you just 'want to be friends with', Velm."

Velma scowled. "It is _not _a lot – it's literally just two. Besides, you're friends with both of them too."

"But I don't have history with either of them," Daphne replied. "One is your ex, and the other one you're in love with."

Velma's eyes grew wide. "I'm not in love with Shaggy!" she hissed, standing up. "Listen, my performance has been suffering lately and I think Holden's right – it's because Shaggy and I haven't been meeting. But that does _not _mean I'm in love with him. All I want is to be his friend. And I'm going to go find him now to talk in the practice room so we can get our onstage chemistry back." With that, she hurried out of the dressing room before Daphne could say anything else.

Velma caught Shaggy as he and Scooby came out of the boy's dressing room.

"Ri, Relma," Scooby said.

"Hey Scoob," she replied, gathering her courage. To Shaggy, she said, "Practice room?"

Shaggy avoided eye contact with Scooby, gulped, and nodded. Scooby said nothing, just headed for the house alone, though Shaggy thought he saw the dog give him a knowing look. Regardless, Shaggy followed Velma down the hall to their practice room (when had he started thinking of it as _theirs?_) and waited as she closed the door behind them. Was she about to tell him she was going back to Tony? Was she here to end things between them, once and for all?

"I'm sorry," she said as soon as the door was closed.

Shaggy's breath caught. This wasn't what he'd been expecting.

"I said a lot of things I didn't mean the last time we were in here. And I put a lot of pressure on you," she continued. "I'm happy keeping things the way they are right now. Your and Scooby's friendship means a lot to me, and I don't want to lose that for the sake of some kind of relationship that might not even work. We don't have to put a label on whatever this is. I just want my friend back. And if you want to cool it on the physical stuff, I understand," she finished. A blush had risen steadily to her cheeks during her speech, but she'd maintained eye contact throughout. _See, Daph, _she thought ruefully. _I can have a scary conversation with a guy while looking him in the eye. You should be able to do this, too._

The relief that Velma wanted things to go back to normal between them was so visceral that it made Shaggy feel physically lighter. But he wasn't out of the woods yet. He had been the one to cause the problem in the first place, after all. Shaggy knew the right thing to do was to apologize back. He even knew exactly what he should say. _I'm sorry too. I said some stupid shit the other week that I shouldn't have said. _The words were right there. It would be so easy.

But it didn't happen.

"We like, don't have to cut out the physical stuff," he blurted. "I think it's really helping us. As like, actors." Also, Shaggy was so frustrated from not doing anything for the past two weeks that he was having a difficult time not pouncing on Velma right now, but he was definitely not about to say that to her. "Like, if you're okay with that?"

Velma bit her lip. Was she okay with that? The fact that Shaggy wanted to keep up the physical relationship, even under the guise of "acting," was enough to encourage her.

"Are you sure?" she whispered.

A moment later, Shaggy had locked the door and taken Velma into his arms in a fierce and passionate kiss.

He had missed this. _God _had he missed this – the feel of her soft body in his arms, her sweet and spicy vanilla-cinnamon scent, the taste of her lips on his. He pulled her closer, savoring her. The way she gripped him tightly and sighed into the kiss was all the proof he needed that she'd been missing this just as much as he'd been.

She opened her mouth against him and let his tongue claim her. Her knees went weak at the contact, and she pulled herself closer to him. Daphne was right. There was something about being physically close to Shaggy that made all Velma's anxieties evaporate. And it was true – they didn't have to put a label on themselves. All she needed was to know that he wanted this as much as she did.

x.X.x

Scooby came to retrieve them a few minutes later, and though he didn't really understand, he didn't want to confront Shaggy again. He remained resolute about this as everyone in the cast arrived and dropped off their backpacks and scripts in the dressing rooms. If Shaggy said there was nothing going on with Velma, then nothing was going on with Velma. Scooby trusted him unconditionally. Besides, Scooby was far too preoccupied with the show to worry much about anything that might be happening with Shaggy and Velma.

The subject matter of the play was getting darker now as rehearsals wore on. Today they were rehearsing the scene where Daphne's character Diana is advised to begin electroshock therapy after a suicide attempt, and Scooby was not looking forward to it. Mostly he worried about Shaggy, and wondered if this would bring up complicated, unpleasant memories for him.

Daphne/Diana stood on stage with Holden/Gabe, having just finished the waltz in "I Dreamed a Dance." Scooby looked over his shoulder and watched Shaggy closely. He sat several rows behind Scooby, near Velma, Fred, and Tony, and stared off into space. It looked as though he was trying not to pay much attention to the lyrics. Scooby wished so badly he could comfort his master, but he had to stay near the stage with Leesa in case someone needed a line.

"_I'll dream, my love," _Daphne/Diana sang tearfully as Holden/Gabe turned to go.

"_I'll live, my love_

_And I'll die to dance with…"_

At this, Holden/Gabe turned back to her, and Daphne/Diana stopped singing.

"Oh, shit," Tony murmured, getting up from his seat to climb the stairs to the wings. He'd forgotten he was supposed to enter near the end of the next song. Fred scooted past Shaggy and Velma to go backstage as well.

"_There's a world," _Holden/Gabe sang, as the pit orchestra began an eerie tune.

"_There's a world I know_

_A place we can go_

_Where the pain will go away_

_There's a world where the sun shines each day…"_

Scooby turned away from the stage to look back at Shaggy again. He stared straight ahead without really seeing the action. Scooby noticed Velma glancing at Shaggy as well, and he made eye contact with her. Velma looked back at Shaggy, then glanced at Scooby again with a questioning gaze. Scooby just shook his head. It was a lot to get into, and impossible to have that conversation across this expanse. Besides, Shaggy should really be the one to talk about it if he wanted to.

"_There's a world_

_There's a world out there," _Holden/Gabe was singing again, enticing Daphne/Diana to look at him.

"What do you think of a fog effect here?" Leesa whispered to Scooby. "I think it might really enhance the whole supernatural, ominous atmosphere?" Without waiting for Scooby to reply, she made a note in her production binder.

"_I'll show you just where,_

_And in time I know you'll see…_

_There's a world where we can be free…"_

Scooby shivered involuntarily. He wasn't sure Holden needed a fog machine. He was doing fine being creepy all on his own.

"_Come with me."_

As Holden sang, Tony entered with a clipboard, as Dr. Madden.

"**Goodman, Diana," **he said, reading the notes on the clipboard.

"_Come with me…" _Holden/Gabe sang.

Tony/Dr. Madden:** "Discovered unconscious at home."**

Holden/Gabe:_ "There's a world where we can be free…"_

Tony/Dr. Madden:** "Multiple razor wounds to wrists and forearms. Self-inflicted."**

This last was said seriously, and the music underneath trailed off before Holden/Gabe came in with his final sung line.

"_Come with me…"_

With this, he reached for Daphne/Diana, who looked at him uncertainly for a moment before taking his hand.

"**Saline rinse, sutures and gauze," **Tony/Dr. Madden said as the music faded out. **"IV antibiotics. Isolated, sedated, and restrained." **A sigh. **"Damn it…"**

Daphne/Diana followed Holden/Gabe offstage in one direction as Fred/Dan entered from the other, holding his script and looking worried.

"**ECT is indicated," **Tony/Dr. Madden said to him.

Fred/Dan exhaled as the weight of this hit him.

"**Wow. I mean…they still do that?" **he asked.

"Cut!" Mr. Atwood called. "Everyone's doing great so far. It's a heavy subject matter, and you guys are doing awesome. I just want to make sure everybody's okay. Anyone need a break?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"Fantastic," Mr. Atwood said. "Let's continue with this scene. Jones, you think you can handle 'I've Been' today?"

"Yes sir," Fred replied.

"Great," said Mr. Atwood. "Then let's go. Action!"

Velma scooted past Shaggy to wait in the wings, as she had a scene after the song. Fred and Tony finished their scene, Fred keeping his script held out in front of him, to Daphne's annoyance. The good news was that his songs were absolutely phenomenal – Daphne actually felt herself swoon as he sang "I've Been" – and his acting was good, too, in spite of his dependency on his script.

After Fred's song, Velma entered from the wings. Shaggy watched from his seat in the house.

"**Dad," **she murmured. **"Why didn't you take me with you?"**

Fred looked at his script. **"We don't see you much these days," **he said. **"Is this Henry a good influence?"**

Velma/Natalie fixed him with a dubious glare. **"Like, compared to what?"**

Fred/Dan sighed. **"Okay, that's fair."**

On the other side of the stage, Tony and Daphne entered for a split scene. Holden stood near Daphne, watching unseen by the other characters.

"**The aftereffects are minimal," **Tony/Dr. Madden said. **"You'll feel a bit like you have a hangover."**

Holden/Gabe looked at Daphne/Diana, stricken. **"Mom, don't let them do this. It causes brain damage."**

Back in the other scene, Fred/Dan said, **"Your mother's in for a new treatment. ECT."**

"**Okay," **Velma/Natalie replied. **"L-M-N-O-P – what is that? I don't know."**

Shaggy snorted, despite himself. She'd delivered that line well. And it was something that Velma might actually say in real life.

"**Electroconvulsive therapy," **Fred/Dan said, still looking at his script. **"Shock therapy." **

Tony/Dr. Madden kept going. **"A minority of patients report some memory loss, but it's usually not much memory."**

Holden/Gabe crossed his arms. **"How do you know how much memory you've lost if you've lost it?"**

Velma/Natalie was staring at Fred/Dan in disbelief. **"You're kidding, right? Dad! That's bullshit."**

"**Language!" **Fred/Dan said sternly.

Tony/Dr. Madden was still talking to Daphne/Diana. **"Patients have said it's like becoming a new person."**

"**It's bullshit," **Velma/Natalie repeated, fixing Fred/Dan with an icy stare. **"She trusts you." **She turned and exited to the wings.

"**Natalie!" **Fred/Dan cried as he followed her off.

"Cut!" called Mr. Atwood. "Nice job with the split scene, everyone. Jones, think you can you try it again without your script?"

Fred's face turned red. "Um…" he hedged.

Mr. Atwood sighed. "Never mind. Let's go into the next number. Blake, are you ready?"

Daphne nodded, pushing aside her frustration with Fred's dependency on his script. Velma headed back to her seat in the house with Shaggy.

"Hey," she murmured to him as Daphne began to sing. "Are you okay? You've seemed…not yourself today."

Shaggy nodded. He didn't want to get into all of the memories this play was dredging up for him. "Yeah I'm fine. I'm like…" he shrugged. "I'm just glad we're like, talking again."

Velma smiled wanly. "I am too," she said. She could tell there was something else going on, and from the eyebrow messages she and Scooby had exchanged earlier, she figured it was a long story, whatever it was. But it wasn't her place to pry, so she swallowed her curiosity to watch Daphne's song.

Daphne/Diana finished singing to Tony/Dr. Madden her thoughts on the electroconvulsive therapy and was about to exit, when Fred/Dan re-entered. His expression was pleading.

"_One light shines in the drive," _he sang

"_One single sign that our house is alive_

_Our house, our own_

_So why do I live there alone?"_

"He's like, really good," Shaggy whispered to Velma.

"I know," she replied. "It's too bad he can't remember his lines."

"Like, what do you think that's about?" Shaggy asked. "The rest of us are doing okay. Do you think he's like, too distracted by the mystery and the Phantom?"

Velma gestured towards the stage with a shrug. "He doesn't seem distracted now." Shaggy turned to watch the song as Fred continued singing.

"_Tell me why I wait through the night_

_And why do I leave on the light?_

_You know. I know._

_Our house was a home long ago."_

Onstage, Fred/Dan looked at Daphne/Diana imploringly.

"_Take this chance," _he sang

"_Cause it may be our last_

_To be free,_

_To let go of the past,_

_And to try,_

_To be husband and wife_

_To let love never die –_

_Or to just live our life."_

Velma watched them intently. They were so good together – both onstage and off. She hoped Daphne would get up the courage to tell Fred she loved him soon. Maybe then they'd be a little more discreet with their intimacies.

"_Take my hand," _Fred continued, as Daphne did.

"_And let me take your heart,_

_Keep it far_

_From what keeps us apart –_

_Let us start_

_With a light in the dark."_

It wasn't quite a love song, but it was romantic. Shaggy thought desperately for something to say to Velma to break the tension.

"_Night falls, I stare at the walls," _Fred sang, as Daphne echoed,

"_I stare at these walls…"_

Fred/Dan:_ "I wake and wander the halls."_

Daphne/Diana:_ "I get lost in these halls…"_

Fred/Dan_: "And I ache to the bone."_

Daphne/Diana:_ "It's like nothing I've known."_

Then, together, they sang, _"I can't get through this alone…"_

Velma ended up breaking the silence herself. "Speaking of the Phantom," she whispered. "We should stick around after rehearsal today and try to figure out what it was Scooby saw in here last night."

Shaggy gulped. "Like…we know what he saw, Velm. He saw the ghost."

"Shaggy," she admonished lightly. "You and I both know it's not really a ghost."

"Oh yeah?" he muttered. "Like, how can you be so sure?"

"Because literally every single other mystery we've solved has been perpetrated by a person in a costume," she replied rationally. "So the question is…who in this production has the most to gain from sabotaging the play?"

"Like what about the practice room?" Shaggy heard himself say.

Velma turned to him, puzzled. "What about it?"

"Uh…" Shaggy mumbled, embarrassed. "Like, if we investigate…we won't have time to have a…meeting."

"We went without them for two weeks," Velma pointed out. "I think we'll be fine."

"Yeah, at like, the cost of our performance," Shaggy replied.

Velma looked at him seriously. "Shaggy…" she said quietly. "Do you want to go to the practice room after rehearsal to avoid investigating the mystery? Or do you want to go because…of another reason?" Her heart thundered in her chest as she asked, and she waited for his answer with bated breath.

Shaggy felt his mouth go dry. Obviously he didn't want to investigate the haunted theater. But he knew that the real reason he wanted to go to the practice room was so that he had a private place where he could kiss Velma. They'd gone for so long with no physical contact at all. He missed her. He needed her.

But he couldn't tell her any of that.

So he said nothing.

Fred was singing again. _"Take this chance_

_And we'll make a new start_

_Somewhere far_

_From what keeps us apart_

_And I swear that somewhere in the night_

_There's a light…_

_A light in the dark."_

As the final notes of the song faded out, Daphne/Diana signed the consent form for the ECT. Tony/Dr. Madden entered to take her offstage, as Fred/Dan and Holden/Gabe remained onstage watching them go.

"Cut!" Mr. Atwood cried once they'd exited. He was beaming. "Excellent job everyone. All your hard work has paid off, and we are now officially finished blocking Act I!"

Everyone in the cast and crew clapped and cheered.

"Tomorrow is a federal holiday, so enjoy your day off from school," Mr. Atwood told everyone. "You deserve it. We'll start in on Act II on Tuesday."

Velma turned to Shaggy. "Grab Fred and Scooby, then meet me and Daphne in the girl's dressing room after everyone else has gone. We're going to get to the bottom of this."

Shaggy sighed and nodded. Maybe he and Velma would have some time in the practice room after they'd investigated.

Scooby caught up with Shaggy as he climbed the stairs to the stage.

"Roo rokay?" Scooby asked.

Shaggy exhaled, thoughts of the practice room and the investigation evaporating. He knew what Scooby was referring to. "Yeah, I'm like, fine Scooby Doo. This play is just…like a lot, you know?"

Scooby nodded understandingly and nudged Shaggy's hand affectionately. Shaggy grinned and patted him on the head.

"Rid roo rell Relma?" Scooby asked. "Rye rink rhe ruspects romething."

"Yeah like, she asked me if anything was wrong earlier," Shaggy told him. "But I like, don't think I'm ready to talk about it yet."

Scooby nodded again. Suddenly, he noticed they were alone on the stage. "Rhere ris reveryone?"

Shaggy looked around. Indeed, they were the last two left onstage. The house lights were still on, but the only other source of light on the stage was the ghost light, which Mr. Atwood had taken out and turned on before he left.

"Well, I think like, the girls went to their dressing room," he said. "Fred and the guys must have gone too."

Scooby looked around. There was something spooky about being the only ones here.

"Ret's ro," he said as he turned towards the boys' dressing room.

And froze.

It was hard to see, due to the lack of light, but several feet in front of them, partially hidden behind a curtain, a pallid figure stood watching them. Scooby recognized her immediately. It was the Phantom of the Auditorium.

"RAAAAAH!" he screamed, jumping into Shaggy's arms.

"Oof," Shaggy stumbled under the sudden weight. "Like what's wrong Scoo—" Then Shaggy turned in the direction Scooby was looking and saw the ghostly figure as well.

"ZOINKS!" he cried, sprinting away from her into the boys' dressing room. He still held Scooby aloft, and they barreled directly into Fred.

"Hey!" Fred cried from the ground, where the three of them had formed a mini pile-up.

"What's the matter?" asked Tony, who appeared behind Fred. "You guys okay?"

"Rhe Rantom!" Scooby panted. "Rhe's rack!"

"Like, I saw her too!" Shaggy confirmed.

"Saw who?" asked Tony. He wasn't as well-versed in Scooby's dialect as others.

"The Phantom of the Auditorium," Shaggy and Scooby said together.

Fred suddenly appeared more alert. "You saw her again? Where was she?"

"She was like, standing kinda backstage," Shaggy said. "Near the stairs to the wood loft." They led Fred and Tony to where they'd seen her – and of course, by the time they arrived, she was gone.

"Well, nothing's here now," Fred began.

Suddenly, from the other side of the stage, two familiar voices screamed in horror.

Fred, Shaggy, and Scooby looked at each other aghast. "The girls!" they cried in unison. The three of them sprinted across the stage, Tony close behind.

Daphne and Velma stood in the wings outside of the girl's dressing room. Velma's eyes were wide with shock behind her glasses and Daphne had covered her mouth in fright.

"What's the mat—oh my God," Fred started, then interrupted himself when he saw what they were looking at.

Costumes had been upended from their hangers. Couch cushions had been tossed haphazardly around, while the couch itself, as well as the makeup chairs, had been capsized. The contents of Daphne's purse and Velma's messenger bag had been overturned and strewn around the room. The remains of what had once been their scripts were torn to shreds and littered along the floor. And in menacing red letters on the mirrors were the words, "QUIT, MYSTERY FREAK."

The Phantom had been here for sure. And she'd absolutely decimated the girl's dressing room.

* * *

**Sponge: Lots of questions here. Who does the Phantom want to quit the play? What's the traumatic thing from Shaggy's past that he refuses to talk about? Is Daphne ever going to tell Fred that she loves him? Only one way to find out. Come back again for the next update! We are at about the mid-way point in the story now, which means I'll be taking a little "intermission" of my own to catch up with life, but fear not! I will post the next installment on Wednesday, March 18****th**** around 10pm EST. In the meantime, review if you please! Thanks for reading!**


	10. Wish I Were Here

**Sponge: WOW I picked a time to go on a hiatus, huh? Thanks everyone for being patient - I hope you're all okay! I hope that everyone here in the US with me are able to stay home, if possible. And I hope that everyone, no matter where you are, are all healthy and that you're keeping up with your mental health as best you can! I also hope that you can use this story as an escape if the real world is too much for you right now. Anyway, welcome to chapter 10 and Act II! I hope you enjoy. Warning: language and kissing. Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Scooby Doo characters. They belong to Cartoon Network, Warner Brothers, and Hanna-Barbera.**

* * *

**Chapter 10: Wish I Were Here**

"Holy shit," Tony murmured from behind them. "What the hell happened in here?"

Fred, who was still gazing aghast into the dressing room, had wrapped an arm around Daphne's shoulders. Shaggy glanced sideways at Velma. He wanted desperately to comfort her somehow, but he was too afraid of Scooby noticing.

"It was like this when we got here," Velma murmured numbly.

"What's going on?" Holden appeared from seemingly nowhere, and gasped when he saw the state of the girls' dressing room. "Oh my God," he muttered. "Who did this?"

"Rhe Rhantom!" Scooby exclaimed. "Rye raw rer ragain!"

"Yeah like, I saw the Phantom too," Shaggy spoke up. "She was on the other side of the stage like, over by the stairs to the wood loft."

Holden knitted his brow and glanced back into the dressing room. "Okay listen," he said. "Like I said last night, the legend is all bullshit. I don't believe in the Phantom. I never have. Props and shit go missing all the time during performances here, regardless of if any characters die in the play. But nothing like this…" he gestured to the mess. "…Has ever happened in the entire four years I've been here. This is a first."

"What's a first?" asked Leesa, who entered from the hallway. She gave a small scream and clapped her hand over her mouth. "Oh my God!" she moaned. "Mr. Atwood's going to freak the fuck out!"

"Not if we clean it up," Tony said. "I'll go find some brooms and wipes and stuff. Scoob, wanna come help?"

"Rokay," Scooby agreed. Anything to get out of the haunted theater.

"I'll get some trash bags," Holden said, turning to go.

"Shag, I'll bet you and I could turn that couch back over." Fred had let go of Daphne.

"Like, okay," Shaggy replied, following him into the room and trying not to trip on any of the many items that littered the floor.

Leesa gazed at the words on the mirror, then turned to Daphne and Velma. "Are you all right?" she asked seriously.

"I'm fine," Velma answered truthfully. She shot a furtive glance at Daphne, who still hadn't spoken. "How about you, Daph?"

"Holden's right," she murmured. "The Phantom has never gone this far. She's never tried to frighten people out of a production before."

Leesa put a comforting hand on Daphne's shoulder. "Which bag is yours?" she asked kindly. "I'll help you gather your things back."

Scooby, Tony, and Holden returned shortly, and they all worked swiftly and diligently to clean the dressing room. The words on the mirrors turned out to be written in lipstick, so that was a quick clean-up job. The room was back to relative normalcy in about fifteen minutes.

Leesa sighed and shook her head. "Thanks everybody," she said. "We better not tell Mr. Atwood about this yet. This'll stress him out even worse than he already is, and I don't want him to have a heart attack." Everyone nodded in agreement. "But we'll figure out who did this," Leesa finished resolutely.

"Yeah, Daph." Holden pulled her in for a brief one-armed hug. "Don't worry. Everything's gonna be okay."

"We better go," Fred said loudly, taking Daphne's hand.

"What about the investigation?" asked Velma.

"I think it's more important to get you girls home," Fred replied, glaring at Holden.

Shaggy and Scooby looked at each other in concern.

The gang left for the Mystery Machine, all deep in thought.

"Daph, like, are you really okay?" Shaggy asked her as they all climbed into the van.

Daphne sighed. "Yeah. That was so strange, though. Why would someone have wanted to destroy our dressing room? And who was that message meant for?"

"Well, we're the only two girls in the production, and everyone knows that we solve mysteries," Velma pointed out. "Obviously it was intended for one of us."

"Like I said earlier, nothing like this has ever happened before," Daphne said with another sigh. "There have been misplaced props and burnt out bulbs and people like Leesa and Scooby and Shaggy who say they've seen her, but the Phantom has never tried to scare anyone out of performing before."

"Is it maybe because there are so many non-drama kids involved in the production?" asked Velma. "Would that be why this so-called Phantom wants someone to quit?"

A horrible thought hit Shaggy like a ton of bricks. What if the Phantom was after Velma? Of course, it wasn't preferable for any of his friends to be in danger, but Daphne had fallen into so many trap doors and been locked into so many secret rooms that at this point it was almost expected of her. It was never fun when Daphne was in trouble, but if something happened to Velma…Shaggy didn't think he could handle it.

"Holden did make that comment once," Velma continued. "He wasn't too thrilled about us 'outsiders' being in the play."

"Rat's right!" Scooby said. "Rand re rasn't rhere rhen Rye raw rhe rhost."

"What, you think Holden is behind this?" Daphne turned around to look at them.

"He could have been dressing up as the Phantom," Velma pointed out. "Scooby's right – he's never been around when she's been spotted. We even saw him sneaking out of the auditorium last night. "

"And," Fred added, "he's the only one whose props and costumes have never gone missing."

"What would be his motive?" asked Daphne, still skeptical.

The gang said nothing for a while, but the gears in Shaggy's brain were turning. He felt there was a clue here somewhere. He knew that Fred had said Holden was gay, but he'd made that comment about Velma at homecoming…would he have said he'd wanted to "hit that" if he truly was gay? Shaggy thought about how Holden acted around Daphne. How he'd put his arm around her this afternoon while trying to comfort her.

"Maybe he like…has a crush on you?" Shaggy heard himself suggest.

Everyone looked at him.

"Are you serious?" Daphne said incredulously. "He's gay! He has a boyfriend."

"Are you sure he's gay? Like, at homecoming he made a comment about a girl to me," Shaggy told her.

"He did?" asked Velma, sounding perplexed. "What girl? What did he say?"

Shaggy avoided her gaze. "Just like, some girl." He didn't want Velma to know that he and Holden had been talking about her. "He said she looked good and like…some other stuff."

"What other stuff?" Fred wanted to know. Shaggy just shrugged, too embarrassed to say. He wished he'd never brought this up.

Daphne shook her head. "I promise you, Holden is gay. And I don't think he did this. He cares too much about the production."

Scooby gulped. "Rhen rit rust re a rhost."

"It's not a ghost," said Fred, Daphne, and Velma all in one voice.

Shaggy scowled. "Like then what did Scoob and me see this afternoon?"

"Someone in a costume," Fred said. "Like with all the other cases we've had this year."

"But it _must_ be someone involved in the production," Velma added again. "How else would they know to hide behind the legend of the Phantom?" She turned to Daphne. "How does that story get passed down from year to year? Just by word of mouth?"

Daphne nodded. "Usually a senior, like Leesa or Harmony, will tell it to the underclassmen."

"Reesa rold re rhe rory," Scooby piped up.

Daphne glanced over at Scooby. "When did she do that?"

"Rhe rirst reek," Scooby replied. He told the gang everything he could remember that Leesa had said about the legend.

Daphne furrowed her brow. "I've never heard that part about how we were the first school to ever do _Phantom," _she said. "But then again, if the legend's been told every year for the past twenty years, I'd be surprised if parts didn't get skipped over with every telling."

Velma leaned forward thoughtfully. "I think I'd like to do some more research on the Phantom of the Auditorium, and figure out how the legend began."

x.X.x

Shaggy was looking forward to his day off. He planned to park his butt on the couch in front of the TV and have a scary movie marathon with Scooby. But he was surprised the following morning to hear a knock on his front door, and even more surprised to find Velma standing on his porch.

"Get Scooby," she told him. "I called Daphne and Fred. They'll be here in ten minutes."

"Like where are we going?" asked Shaggy.

"To the library. We have to do some research if we want to solve this mys—"

"Shh!" Shaggy shushed her desperately. His parents were just in the kitchen, and he didn't want them to hear the word "mystery."

Velma stopped talking.

"We can't go to the library," Shaggy reminded her. "It's Columbus Day, remember? It's like, closed on federal holidays."

Velma reached into her messenger bag. "Which is why we'll be using this." She extracted a key. "They give these to exemplary library volunteers," she said by way of explanation.

Shaggy sighed. "Velma..." he started.

She looked at him fiercely. "Listen," she said. "Daphne could be in danger. Someone wants her out of the play. I don't want her to get hurt. And the more we know about the legend of the Phantom of the Auditorium, the closer we are to catching the saboteur." Her expression changed – now she looked at him imploringly. "We have to do this" she murmured. "Please, Shaggy."

Shaggy was suddenly gripped by an overwhelming desire to kiss her. Maybe it was because they'd never gotten to go back to the practice room yesterday, or maybe it was the fact that _she _could be the one in danger, or maybe it was the way she was looking at him now, or maybe it was the way she'd just said, "Please, Shaggy." It could be any number of things.

He shook his head. He could get horny later. She was right – they had to help Daphne. "I'll like, go get Scoob," he said.

x.X.x

No one else had any qualms about breaking into the library, and soon the gang found themselves seated at the research computers in "the morgue." Fred was scrolling through webpages. Daphne examined slides of microfiche intently. Scooby was searching through the archival drawers for microfiche for Daphne to investigate, humming the tune to "Wish I Were Here," from the musical under his breath. Velma had selected a large tome of archived newspapers from twenty years ago and sat at a table flipping through it with Shaggy.

This was the part of mystery solving he liked best. Not running from a specter, not setting a trap. Just quietly sitting and doing research with his friends. It always made the monsters seem less scary. However, today he found himself continually distracted by Velma's closeness, especially in the dim lighting. He kept glancing down at her legs when he was meant to be reading newspaper articles, or sometimes his attention would be diverted when he'd catch her biting her lip in concentration. Why couldn't _he_ concentrate? Was it because of the moment earlier, on his porch, when he'd wanted to kiss her? Whatever it was, it was making it hard for him to focus.

Fred, too, was having trouble paying attention to the task at hand. But he was thinking about Holden. Daphne seemed so sure that he wasn't to blame. Fred was inclined to believe her, but Holden had been acting so strangely. And Velma was right – he _had _made a comment about there being too many non-drama students in the play. But then, why would he want to scare Daphne away? To punish her for bringing in the outsiders?

That didn't seem right. Holden clearly cared for Daphne. And Shaggy's story about talking to him at homecoming was compelling. Could Holden be lying about being gay? Could he be saying that so that no one would suspect him of being in love with Daphne?

Daphne herself sighed exasperatedly from her machine just then. "We've been at this for an hour," she complained. "I can't find information about any schools doing _Phantom _twenty years ago, let alone Coolsville High."

Scooby cocked his head thoughtfully. "Reesa red rit ras rig rews," he told them. "Rit rould rave reen rin rhe rewspaper."

"Scooby's right," Velma said from the book that she and Shaggy shared. "We would have found something in these archives by now if it was as big news as Leesa claims, especially if somebody died."

Fred sat forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "Do you think the entire legend is made up then?"

Daphne shook her head. "It had to come from somewhere."

"It's possible the news of her death was overshadowed," Velma murmured, flipping through the heavy tome that rested on the table in front of her. "There are a lot of headlines about other fatal accidents in these archives – car crashes, falls, even a basement lab explosion."

"But why would those deaths be in the papers and not this girls'?" Daphne wanted to know.

"There may not have been a death if Coolsville High didn't really do _Phantom _that year," Fred pointed out.

"Maybe we're going about this the wrong way," Velma suggested. "Let's first figure out what play Coolsville High actually did twenty years ago."

"Like, how do we do that?" asked Shaggy.

Velma got up and walked down a nearby aisle. She reappeared shortly, a stack of old yearbooks in her arms.

"You know how I've been volunteering at this library for the past few years?" she huffed under the weight. Fred ran to help her set them down. "One of the things I had to do," she continued once her arms were free, "was catalog all these old yearbooks."

"I had no idea the library had these," Daphne murmured.

"Most people don't," Velma replied. "They're just for reference purposes, so they can't leave the library. Like I said, the only reason I know about them was because I had to organize them."

Everyone grabbed a yearbook and started flipping through, looking for anything about performances from twenty years ago. They read in silence for a while, until…

"Jeepers!" gasped Daphne. "I found something!"

Everyone crowded around her so they could see.

"This yearbook is from exactly twenty years ago," Daphne said. "I just found the pages dedicated to the production they did that year."

"What was it?" asked Velma.

"_West Side Story," _Daphne replied.

"I've like, never heard of that play," said Shaggy.

"Neither have I," Fred replied.

"It's like _Romeo and Juliet _but in the 50's," Daphne told them. "The star-crossed lover characters are from different racial backgrounds and rival teenage street gangs."

Shaggy furrowed his brow. "That's like, not even close to the same plot as _Phantom, _right?"

"No," Daphne agreed. "But look at the cast list!"

The gang peered closer.

"The lead female character, Maria, was played by a student named Christine McCormack," Velma murmured.

"Hey," Fred interrupted. "Isn't Christine also the name of the main character in _Phantom?"_

"Exactly," said Daphne. "And look at her."

The girl in question was beautiful. She wore a long white dress, and had beautiful thin black hair.

Scooby gasped. "Rhat's rer," he whimpered. "Rhat's rhe Rhantom."

"She does look just like the ghost we saw," Shaggy agreed with a gulp.

Daphne squinted at the photo again. "Is it just me, or does she look familiar to anyone else?"

"Like I said, she looks just like the ghost Scoob and me saw," Shaggy replied.

Velma peered closer and gasped. "Jinkies," she breathed. "Did you see who played the male lead?"

Everyone read the name together.

"Harrison Walsh."

Fred glanced sideways at Daphne. "Could that be…Holden Walsh's father?"

Daphne's eyes widened. "I don't know…" she replied. "Walsh is a pretty common last name…"

"Hey gang," Velma said. She'd picked up another yearbook and had flipped to a page near the center. "This is the yearbook from the year before that. There's a pretty interesting fact about Harrison Walsh in here."

Everyone looked at Velma's book. She was turned to the page for that year's fall musical: _Grease. _

"Mark Warner, pictured above, took over the main role of Danny Zuko," Fred read aloud from the yearbook, "after original cast member Harrison Walsh was involved in an accident during rehearsal."

"What kind of accident?" asked Daphne.

Fred shook his head. "It doesn't say. But it clearly wasn't fatal, because he was able to come back to be in _West Side Story _the next year."

"I'm beginning to see how the legend got started," Velma said slowly. "It looks like people just got their wires crossed on who got hurt during what year."

"But how did _The Phantom of the Opera _get involved?" asked Fred.

Velma shrugged. "That's the mystery."

The group was quiet for a while.

Fred broke the silence first. "If this is Holden's father," he began, "maybe that would give him another motive."

Daphne rolled her eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"Holden could be annoyed that this legend is attributed to some anonymous girl instead of to his father," Fred replied. "But then the question is, why would he try to scare everyone by pretending to be the Phantom instead of just telling everyone the truth?"

"Because Holden _isn't _the Phantom, Fred," Daphne said sharply. "He doesn't even believe in the legend. He's told us so himself, multiple times!"

"Which is why he's the perfect suspect," Fred countered. "We wouldn't think to look into him, because he's so adamantly against the idea that the Phantom exists. But look at the facts: he's never been around when the props have gone missing, or when the dressing room was destroyed, or anytime Scooby or Shaggy have seen the ghost."

"Holden would never want to sabotage this performance!" Daphne exclaimed. "He cares about it too much. Which is more than I can say about you – at least Holden has all of his lines memorized!"

Daphne knew she'd taken it too far, but she was so annoyed. Fred was grasping at straws to blame Holden, all because he was jealous of him. And he didn't have any reason to be.

The two of them glared at each other as Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby looked on uncomfortably.

"I think we should leave now," Velma finally said. "We've done everything we can do here. Let's all go home and maybe…calm down a bit."

Without speaking, Fred and Daphne began cleaning up their work areas. Scooby put away the microfilm slides and Velma and Shaggy walked down the aisles returning the books they'd pulled from the shelves.

"I wish I hadn't said anything yesterday," Velma sighed.

"Like what do you mean?" Shaggy asked.

"About Holden possibly being the Phantom," Velma replied. "If I hadn't mentioned my theory, maybe Fred wouldn't be so suspicious of him now, and he and Daphne wouldn't be arguing."

"Hey," Shaggy said, catching her arm. She turned to face him. "This like, isn't your fault, Velm," he told her. "You haven't done anything wrong."

She shrugged and dropped her gaze. "It feels like I did," she sighed.

"Like, I'm the one who mentioned Holden talking about a girl," Shaggy pointed out. "If anything, this is my fault."

"But would you have said anything if I hadn't said something first?" she asked.

"Like it doesn't matter," Shaggy said. "We did this together. So like, we'll fix it together."

Velma looked up at him and Shaggy felt his throat grow dry as their eyes bore into each other. She gave a small smile. "Thanks, Shag," she said in a soft voice. Then she cleared her throat. "Here." She handed him one of the archival books. "Why don't you put this one away? I'll take this one." She dashed into the next aisle as Shaggy watched her go. Her skirt flapped behind her and again, he tried not to stare at her legs.

He put the newspaper tome on the shelf where it belonged, wondering why he was having more trouble than usual around her today. It must be because he'd gotten used to his intimacy with her, and they'd gone so long without it. Right?

He rounded the corner of the shelf and nearly ran directly into Velma coming from the other direction.

"I think we're all finished," she told him.

They were so close to each other.

_Like, fuck it,_ Shaggy thought to himself. Completely throwing caution to the wind, he pulled Velma to him and kissed her fiercely. He surprised himself with his urgency, but they'd gone for nearly two weeks with no physical contact. Shaggy had been wanting to kiss her all day, and it was driving him out of his mind. He pushed her up against the shelf – they were pretty well-hidden – and claimed her mouth with his over and over again. He held her hips and felt her arms snake around his neck. His heart turned over in his chest in response to her embrace.

When they broke apart, she looked at him curiously. Shaggy swallowed. This was the first time they'd kissed offstage and outside of the privacy of their practice room.

"Like, sorry," he said. "I just…I don't know."

She smiled softly at him. "It's okay," she told him. "I understand." She shot a cursory glance on either side of them before standing on her toes to peck him on the cheek. "We should go," she said. "The others will be wondering where we are."

With that, the two of them dropped their arms from each other and walked back towards the door, where their friends were waiting for them.

* * *

**Sponge: Thanks for reading, and for being patient with the mysteries. All will be revealed, I promise. More next week. Review if you please!**


	11. Song Of Forgetting

**Sponge: Here's chapter 11! It's rather long, so buckle up. Warning: language, drug references, and mild peril. Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Scooby Doo characters. They belong to Cartoon Network, Warner Brothers, and Hanna-Barbera. All dialogue in bold comes from the **_**Next to Normal **_**script. All lyrics to the songs "Wish I Were Here," "Song of Forgetting," and "Hey #1" belong to Brian Yorkey. There's a line near the end of the chapter that comes directly from the first episode of "Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated." You'll probably know it when you see it. Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 11: Song of Forgetting**

Fred had taken to reading his script under his desk during his classes. Ever since Daphne's dig in the library, he'd barely put his script down, but it didn't seem to make a difference. It had been a week and a half since their excursion to the library, they had begun Act II, and Fred was still no closer to having his lines memorized. Not only that, but he was getting in trouble for not paying attention during class.

They'd moved forward in rehearsals, but this Thursday they were coming back to the number that opens Act II, "Wish I Were Here." Fred waited silently in the wings, since he didn't enter until the end of the song. During the number, Diana was getting electroshock therapy, and Natalie was at a club with Henry. Shaggy, Tony, and Holden were also onstage, singing in the background. But Fred couldn't keep his eyes off of Daphne. She was beautiful. Stunning. Brighter than the sun as she performed.

Things had been a little awkward between them ever since their fight at the library. They hadn't talked much about it, and they certainly hadn't done any more sleuthing – though this had more to do with the stress of the play than anything else. Of course, Fred and Daphne's argument hadn't helped matters much. Even though Fred was sure that Holden had something to do with the Phantom, he avoided mentioning him to anyone in the gang, especially Daphne.

She and Velma were about midway through the song and were singing in harmony now.

"_Plug me in_

_And turn me on_

_And flip the switch_

_I'm good as gone_

_It slips my skin_

_And trips my brain_

_I feel the burn_

_But I don't feel the pain."_

The music picked up into a frenzied rock-and-roll beat as Daphne and Velma melted away and Diana and Natalie took their places. Fred watched in awe from the wings.

"_Is my brain reborn or is it wrecked?_

_In freedom or in fear?_

_Wish I were here._

_Have I blown my mind forever?_

_Is cloudy my new clear?_

_Wish I were here_

_Wish I were here_

_Wish I were – "_

At this, Velma/Natalie collapsed onto the floor. She'd done such a good job that Fred had almost forgotten that she was acting.

"**Natalie! Natalie! Damn," **Shaggy/Henry rushed to help her up. **"This is like the fifth night in a row I've had to come find you at some random club."**

This was Fred's cue to enter. He walked to Daphne/Diana, who sat in a chair, looking confused.

He reached out for her. **"Diana?" **he said. He knew he got that line correctly, at least. It was hard for even him to mess up a one-word line.

Daphne/Diana blinked at him a few times before she said, **"Dan."**

Fred/Dan nodded encouragingly. **"Your three weeks are up – time to go home!"**

"_Two _weeks!" Leesa corrected him from the front of the house.

Everyone onstage grimaced, bringing themselves out of the moment. **"Your two weeks are up," **Fred said. **"Time to go home."**

Daphne struggled to get back into character and furrowed her brow in puzzlement. **"Home? But –"**

"**Shh," **Fred/Dan comforted her. **"Don't talk. Relax." **He wrapped a sweater around her shoulders and took her bag. Up on a platform of the set, Shaggy and Velma sat together in what was meant to be Natalie's bedroom. Shaggy had his arm around her.

"**Okay," **she told him. **"You can go. I'm like, seventy percent less messed up now." **

Shaggy/Henry didn't budge.

"**Seriously," **Velma/Natalie said.** "My dad's gonna be home any minute. He's bringing my mom from the hospital this morning, and you don't want to be here."**

"**Will you call me?" **Shaggy/Henry murmured.

"**Just go!" **Velma/Natalie shouted. Shaggy/Henry stood up to leave, but not before planting a soft kiss to Velma/Natalie's temple. The script didn't call for this per se, but there weren't many opportunities that Shaggy could kiss Velma without anyone getting suspicious, and since he would prefer to be kissing her almost all the time, he had to take what he could get.

"Nice touch, Rogers," Mr. Atwood called from the house as Shaggy exited to the wings.

Velma/Natalie, trying to ignore the fluttering of her heart, sighed, and sang the final lines of the song.

"_Can I hide my stupid hunger?_

_Fake some confidence and cheer?_

_Wish I were here._

_Wish I were here."_

Shaggy headed down into the house, where Tony and Holden sat together.

"Ten bucks says Jones misses this line," Holden murmured as Shaggy sat down.

"I'm not takin' that bet," Tony muttered back to him.

"Cuz you know I'd win," Holden replied.

Onstage, Fred/Dan and Daphne/Diana entered. She stopped to take in the scene.

Fred/Dan called out, **"We're home!"**

"We're _here_," Leesa called back. Mr. Atwood, who was sitting next to her, frowned at Fred.

"Ha!" Holden smacked a fist into his palm gleefully. "Pay up, Moretti."

"I didn't take your stupid bet," Tony reminded him, his New York accent stronger than usual.

Shaggy sighed. He just didn't understand why Fred wasn't getting any better.

Velma/Natalie smoothed her outfit, then ran out to greet the others. She stopped short at the sight of Daphne/Diana.

"**Hey," **Velma/Natalie murmured. **"Wow. Uh. You look…great."**

Daphne/Diana seemed perplexed. **"Oh, well, thank you," **she replied. She peered closer at Velma/Natalie. Then, almost embarrassedly, **"And…who are you?"**

Velma/Natalie looked as though she'd been slapped. **"Who am I?" **she whispered in bewilderment.

Fred/Dan stared at Daphne/Diana in concern. **"Diana," **he said slowly. **"This is your daughter."**

"No!" Leesa cried from the front row of the audience as Scooby groaned and hid his face in his paws. Everyone onstage was, again, brought out of the moment. "Your line is 'Diana, this is Natalie,' and then Natalie clarifies, 'Your daughter.'"

Velma and Daphne looked at each other worriedly. Fred's constant line flubs were not helping their character work.

Fred gritted his teeth and tried the line again. **"Diana. This is Natalie."**

"**Your **_**daughter?" **_Velma/Natalie reminded her.

"**Oh. Of course," **Daphne/Diana said, though she didn't sound convinced. **"And this is our house?"**

Silence.

"Rit's rour rine, Reddie," Scooby called out.

Fred groaned. "I'm sorry. What's the line?"

Tony sighed heavily and rubbed his temples. Shaggy closed his eyes in exasperation.

"The line is 'Diana, don't you...you don't remember any of this?'" Leesa reminded him shortly. It seemed as though even she was losing her patience.

Fred didn't dare look at Mr. Atwood. **"Diana, don't you…you don't remember…any of this?"**

Daphne/Diana looked at him. **"I should, right?"**

"Okay, cut," Mr. Atwood said. Everyone onstage tensed up. "We've got to run that again. Jones, take another look at your script." Abashedly, Fred took out his script and studied it. Across the expanse from the seats to the stage, Shaggy made eye contact with Daphne and Velma, who looked back at him grimly.

They ran through the scene a few more times and once it was starting to look a little better ("Decent," is what Mr. Atwood said), they moved on to the song that followed.

_"This house and all these rooms?" _Fred/Dan sang.

_"Last Christmas, or last year?_

_Out back the dogwood blooms –"_

Daphne/Diana: _"Do I really live here?"_

Fred/Dan: _"The paint, the walls..._

_All this glass and wood..._

_You don't recall?"_

Daphne/Diana shook her head. _"How I wish I could."_

Fred/Dan tried again. _"Our house on Walton Way –_

_The house with the red door?_

_Our trip to Saint-Tropez –_

_The whole week a downpour?"_

Velma/Natalie joined in on the effort. _"My first few steps..._

_And my first lost tooth..._

_What, nothing yet?"_

Daphne/Diana looked pained. _"To tell the truth..."_

Velma/Natalie stared at her in disbelief. **"Jesus," **she sighed.

Fred/Dan sang again. _"Sing a song of forgetting..._

_A song of the way things were not_

_Sing of what's lost to you_

_Of times that you never knew._

_Sing of not remembering when_

_Of memories that go unremembered and then_

_Sing a song of forgetting again."_

How was it that he knew all the lyrics to his songs, but couldn't remember his lines to save his life? Shaking himself, he gestured towards Velma/Natalie.

"_That day our child was born_

_Our baby girl's first cry?_

_That gray and drizzly morn_

_I've never felt so high."_

Daphne/Diana, struggling to recall, finally caught a memory.

"_The day we met," _she sang

_And we shared two beers."_

"_Then?" _Fred/Dan was hopeful.

Daphne/Diana shook her head. _"I forget."_

Fred/Dan looked crestfallen. _"But that's nineteen years."_

Daphne/Diana shrugged. **"That Dr. Mitchell said there might be some memory loss," **she said.

"**Dr. Madden," **Fred/Dan reminded her. It was nice to be the one doing the correcting for a change.

Daphne/Diana chuckled ruefully. **"Well, see, there you go."**

Fed up, Velma/Natalie threw her arms in the air.

"_What a lovely cure,_

_It's a medical miracle," _she sang, her tone biting with sarcasm.

"_With a mind so pure_

_That she doesn't know anything."_

Fred/Dan turned to her.

"_It's there I'm sure," _he sang

"_Cuz memories don't die."_

Velma/Natalie sang back. _"Why?"_

As the song reached a crescendo, Daphne moved downstage towards Velma and Fred.

Fred/Dan: "_They don't die."_

Velma/Natalie: "_They die."_

Daphne/Diana: "_I'll try…"_

THUNK. CRASH.

A sudden noise sounded overhead in the fly space, like a rope snapping. A moment later, a sandbag landed violently onto a beam holding up the platform meant to be Natalie's bedroom. There was the brief splintering sound of cracking wood, and then the whole platform crashed to the ground, landing in the exact spot where Daphne had just been standing.

The three onstage whirled around to stare in horror as everyone in the house shot to their feet.

"Ruh-roh!" Scooby exclaimed, rushing into the aisle with the others in the seats.

"What was that?" called someone from the pit.

Mr. Atwood bounded onstage concernedly. "Are you all okay?" he asked Fred, Daphne, and Velma as he guided them towards the apron.

The three had huddled together in fright at the crash, Fred's arms around both of the girls. However Daphne, suddenly remembering she was still annoyed with him for his unfounded suspicions about Holden and his dependency on his script, released herself from his grasp.

"I'm fine," she said, albeit shakily.

"How did that happen?" Leesa started to walk upstage and peered up into the fly space.

"Beamer for Gods' sake, get out of there," Mr. Atwood called, yanking her arm to bring her back to the group.

Shaggy, Scooby, Tony, and Holden had joined the others onstage, though everyone made sure to stay as close to the edge as they could. Several of the techies and stagehands had started to climb onstage as well, but Mr. Atwood waved them all away.

"Everyone go sit in the house for a while," he commanded. "I've got to check the fly space. I'll be right back with the cherry picker." With that, he carefully walked through the wings to go backstage. He returned shortly, wheeling a cherry picker. "Go," he told the company when he saw they still hadn't moved. He climbed into the cherry picker, turned a key, and everyone watched as he rose up into the fly space.

"Rar roo rokay?" Scooby asked Fred, Daphne, and Velma as they all headed back into the audience seats.

"I think so," Velma replied. "It was certainly a shock, though."

"You're lucky you weren't hurt," Tony told them. "Especially you, Blake. If you hadn't moved in time…" he trailed off, not wanting to finish his sentence.

Shaggy shuddered. This was clearly the Phantom's doing, and it appeared as though Daphne was definitely the target. Though Shaggy was relieved that Daphne wasn't hurt, he was even more relieved that the Phantom was not after Velma.

Holden sighed and reached for Daphne's hand. "That could have been a real disaster," he said. "I'm glad you're okay."

"Oh, quit the act, Holden." Fred, who'd remained quiet this whole time, suddenly whirled around to face the other boy.

Daphne's eyes widened and she let go of Holden's hand. "Fred!" she hissed.

Holden seemed genuinely confused. "What act? What are you talking about?"

"I know that you're not happy that Daphne brought us 'outsiders' in for this play," Fred made finger quotations around the word 'outsiders,' "so stop trying to act like you don't know what's going on."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," said Holden again.

Fred stepped closer to him. "I know you're pretending to be the Phantom to scare us away," he said, jabbing a finger into Holden's chest. "You weren't around last week when the girls' dressing room was destroyed or whenever the Phantom's been seen, _and _you're the only one of us who hasn't had props or costume pieces go missing."

"Fred!" Daphne grabbed his arm, aghast. "Cut it out!"

"We've already got you figured out, Holden!" Fred completely ignored Daphne. "We know you're trying to reclaim the legend of the Phantom of the Auditorium for your own family – Harrison Walsh is your father, and you're upset that Christine McCormack is the one who everyone remembers! So you're using the legend to restore your legacy and chase the rest of us away so that you can have Daphne for yourself!"

As soon as he said it all out loud, he realized how absolutely fucking stupid he sounded.

He glanced back and forth at his friends. Shaggy and Scooby looked embarrassed. Velma looked weary. Daphne looked completely livid. Leesa and Tony looked stricken. Everyone else looked at Fred with a mixture of curiosity and disdain.

Holden looked at him like he was an idiot. "In case you've forgotten," he said. "I was here just now when the sandbag broke the set. How could I have done that if I was the Phantom? And I have no idea who Harrison Walsh or Christine McCormack are, but I'm not related to either one of them, to my knowledge. My father's name is Warren." He said this last in a soft tone, but after a brief pause, looked back at Fred resolutely. "And as lovely as Daphne is, I do not 'want her for myself', as you say. I shouldn't have to say this at this point, but I'm gay." He looked pointedly at Fred. "That means that I experience romantic feelings towards men, rather than women." He said this slowly, as though he were explaining it to a very stupid person.

Shaggy felt his stomach clench in embarrassment for Fred.

"And besides," Holden said with a sigh. "I didn't want to say anything about this, but I noticed today that my tuxedo for 'I Dreamed a Dance' is missing. It's not where I left it after homecoming, and I have no idea where it is."

Harmony Collins looked up. "What?" she cried in alarm. "You wore that to homecoming and you didn't tell me?"

"No, I didn't tell you," Holden said to her. "Because I knew you'd react like this." He turned back to Fred. "I don't know who's trying to sabotage the performance, but I promise you it's not me. This is my last musical here, and I want it to go well. I would never try to do anything to ruin it, or to hurt Daphne, or even to scare the rest of you away. So I'd appreciate you backing off."

"Okay, folks," Mr. Atwood descended in the cherry picker, oblivious to the confrontation that had just taken place. "It looks like the pulley system in the fly space got a little wonky, so we're gonna move into the band room while maintenance comes to take a look. I'm going to let them use my keys for the cherry picker so they can fix it. We should be back to business as usual tomorrow, but for now, we'll relocate. Mr. Harrison, the band director, will help as well. Let's go."

x.X.x

The cast headed to the band room in silence, and there was quite a bit of tension between them. Everyone walked on eggshells around Fred and Holden, who refused to look each other in the eye.

Daphne, too, was edgy. She was furious with the way Fred had treated Holden. She stood off to one side of the makeshift "stage" that Mr. Atwood and Mr. Harrison had created in the band room, while Fred sat in the chairs. She avoided eye contact with him – though if she'd been looking at him, she would have seen that he was glaring daggers at her. Of course, that may have been because she was standing next to Holden.

Shaggy and Velma, however, weren't suffering at all. Indeed, they'd had quite a productive practice room meeting (if "productive" meant "full of excellent kissing") and their chemistry was on fire. Now that they were meeting in the practice room again, neither of them had ever been better.

There were three duets they sang that had the same musical theme: "Hey #1," "Hey #2," and "Hey #3." They were running through the first one, where they meet at school several weeks after Daphne/Diana has lost her memory.

Shaggy/Henry: "_Hey."_

Velma/Natalie: "_Hey."_

Shaggy/Henry: "_I've missed you these days._

_I thought you might call._

_It's been weeks."_

Velma/Natalie shrugged._ "I've been crazed."_

"_Hey," _Shaggy/Henry took her hand and pulled her closer to him.

"_Hey,_

_Have you been on the scene?_

_Cuz you look like a mess."_

Velma/Natalie shot him a withering look. _"Thanks, I guess."_

He looked at her seriously. _"Are you clean?"_

She raised her eyebrows. _"Wow, coming from you…"_

Shaggy/Henry: _"I don't do what you do."_

Velma/Natalie: _"Okay, how did it start?"_

He gripped her shoulders. _"But you took it too far."_

Velma/Natalie: _"Oh, I took it too far?"_

She pulled away from him, but he reached for her again.

"_Hey,_" he sang. _"Hey." _He pulled her back to him.

"_Henry, don't," _she replied, shaking her head.

"_Are we over?" _He kept holding her hands.

"_Don't do this to me," _Velma/Natalie tried to resist.

"_Don't say that we're over," _Shaggy/Henry implored her.

She looked at him mournfully. _"Don't you want us to be?"_

He shook his head firmly. _"No, I want who I knew." _He stroked her cheek with his thumb.

"_She's somewhere in you." _He so very, very badly wanted to kiss her right now, but he knew it wouldn't be appropriate, even in this context.

Reluctantly, Velma/Natalie moved away from him, but he followed and caught her arm again.

Shaggy/Henry: _"Hey_

_Say._

_Will you come to this dance?_

_It's some spring formal dance._

_It's March first._

_And it's cheese_

_But it's fun and it's free."_

He reached into his pocket and pretended to hold tickets out to her.

Velma/Natalie shook her head. _"I don't do dances," _she sang.

Shaggy/Henry: _"Do this dance with me."_

It was almost a complete role reversal from what had happened in real life, with homecoming. And the irony was not lost on either of them.

"_Goodbye, Henry," _Velma/Natalie sang, and exited.

"**Natalie. Natalie, wait up," **Shaggy/Henry called after her, and followed her "offstage."

"Cut! Come back here you two," Mr. Atwood called.

Shaggy and Velma returned.

"It's great so far," said Mr. Atwood. "But remember – you're not in a movie, you're on a stage. I know we're not in the auditorium right now, but you don't have to stand so close to each other all the time. Try it again with some space between you."

Neither Shaggy nor Velma were particularly thrilled with this turn of events, and they rather unenthusiastically reset to run the song again.

Daphne watched from the "wings," ready for her next entrance. Holden stood beside her silently, and Fred and Tony both sat in the chairs, out of earshot. Daphne looked over to Fred and finally noticed his glare. She narrowed her eyes. Where did _he _get off being annoyed at _her? _

"What do you think of them?" Daphne whispered to Holden, gesturing towards Shaggy and Velma. She knew it would make Fred crazy to see her talking to Holden, but maybe she wanted to punish him a little, for the way he'd behaved in the auditorium. She wanted Holden to know that she believed his innocence, in any case.

"I gotta say," he replied. "They've improved massively since that first day. They really care about the production."

Daphne couldn't help but glance at Fred out of the corner of her eye. He was still scowling. "Do you think that's Fred's problem? That he doesn't care about this as much as the rest of us?"

Holden shuffled his feet. "I didn't say that," he replied evasively.

"Think about it, Holden," Daphne said. "The gang tried out for this play because I asked them to. We all have different roles to fulfill. Shaggy and Velma are dedicated enough to work overtime in the practice room before and after rehearsal so they're comfortable together onstage. Even Scooby is involved – he's more than pulling his weight as the ASM. But Fred?" Daphne shook her head. "He just isn't moving forward. I don't understand it." Daphne's stomach clenched with the realization. Fred cared more about the mystery than he did about the play. Did that mean...that he cared about the mystery more than he did about her? Was her love for him in vain?

Holden shrugged. "I'm not a couple's counselor, Daph. I don't know what kind of advice to give." He cocked his head towards Velma. "Maybe you could talk to her? You guys are close, right?"

"Of course we are," Daphne told him. "Velma is my best friend in the world. But I don't think she's ever been in love."

Holden raised his eyebrows. "Really? You don't think something's going on there?" He jerked his head back at Velma and Shaggy.

Daphne almost laughed out loud. "Are you serious? There's no way. Velma would have told me."

Holden shrugged. "If you say so. But I think you should still talk to her."

x.X.x

Unfortunately, Daphne had to wait until after rehearsal to talk to Velma. Luckily, they had an APUSH test the following week that they needed to study for, so Velma asked Daphne to come over, which Daphne happily accepted. Fred dropped them both off at Velma's that afternoon.

They'd been going for maybe twenty minutes when Velma realized that Daphne was barely paying attention to their study questions.

"Daph?" she finally said, looking up from her textbook. She was on her bed propped up on her elbows, while Daphne herself was at the desk. "Are you all right?"

"Velma," Daphne replied. "Do you think Fred is as committed to the play at the rest of us?"

Velma sighed and turned to place a bookmark in her textbook before sitting up to look at Daphne. "What are you talking about?"

"We've been rehearsing for weeks," Daphne said, swiveling the desk chair around. "We're almost done blocking Act II. We're going to start full run-throughs soon. The play opens _two weeks from Friday, _and Fred still doesn't have his lines memorized! Everyone else is off book but him!"

Velma leaned forward and rested her chin in her hands. "I don't think his commitment to the play is the problem, Daph. Do you know how often Mr. Ercolano yells at him in physics because he's reading his script under his lab table?"

Daphne pouted thoughtfully. Truthfully, she'd noticed him doing that in French class as well, but she'd figured it had been a show for her. But if he was reading his script in other classes...

She sighed. "I don't know, Velma. I just don't understand why he's not progressing like the rest of us."

"Have you asked him about it?"

Daphne lifted a shoulder. "We haven't talked much since that day in the library."

Velma rolled her eyes. "Daph, remember last year when you decided you were going to tell Fred how you felt about him and you asked me for my advice? What did I tell you?"

"That I was getting ahead of myself?" Daphne replied.

Velma cracked a smile. She _had_ said that, to calm Daphne's dramatics. "I also said that as long as you guys communicated to each other how you were feeling, everything would be all right. Have you told him you loved him yet?"

"No," Daphne admitted. "I've been too annoyed with him lately."

Velma raised an eyebrow at her friend. "You've got to tell him how you're feeling. He's not a mind-reader, Daph. He's just a boy."

Daphne shook her head and sighed. "You're right. I'll talk to him tomorrow." She leaned forward. "Speaking of boys…you and Shaggy have the best chemistry out of anyone in the cast. Are you sure there's nothing going on between you two?"

"No. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Why would anything ever be going on between me and Shaggy?" Velma said, a little quickly. Daphne raised her eyebrows at her. Velma took a deep breath and tried again. "I swear, Daphne," she said, sounding slightly calmer. "Shaggy and I are just friends."

Daphne shrugged. "Holden asked me about it at rehearsal today. He seems to think there's something going on there."

Velma rolled her eyes. First Tony, now Holden? Were she and Shaggy being more obvious than they realized? If they were going to keep their physical relationship a secret, they'd have to do better out in public. She made a mental note to talk to him about it the next day.

"I promise, you'll be the first to know if something ever happens," Velma fibbed. She felt her stomach twist in discomfort. Velma didn't usually outright lie her friends, but she knew that deception was the only way to throw Daphne off the scent. "Now come on," she said. "Let's study." She turned back to her textbook resolutely, and was relieved when Daphne dropped the subject.

* * *

**Sponge: Thanks for reading. Pre-warning: it might get a little steamy next chapter. Review if you please! **


	12. Aftershocks

**Sponge: Here's chapter 12! It's another long one. Warning: language, plus strong sexual themes and graphic romance for both Fraphne and Shelma. I don't think it'll be **_**too**_** explicit, but please proceed with caution and read at your own risk anyway. Also, I'd like to point out that I'm not a native Spanish speaker (I retained some of the things I learned in school, but not all), so please excuse my poor foreign language skills in the Spanish class scene. Shout-out to Google Translate. Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Scooby Doo characters. They belong to Cartoon Network, Warner Brothers, and Hanna-Barbera. All lyrics to the songs "Aftershocks," and "Hey #2" belong to Brian Yorkey. All dialogue in bold comes from the **_**Next to Normal **_**script.**

* * *

**Chapter 12: Aftershocks**

The next morning, Shaggy woke up hot and sweaty under his blankets. He glanced down at the foot of his bed, where Scooby lay snoozing, then reached over to check his phone for the time. Twenty minutes till his alarm was supposed to go off. He put his phone back down and rubbed his hands over his face.

He'd been having a dream. About Velma.

One of _those _dreams.

He'd never had a dream like that before, especially about a girl he knew. He couldn't remember specifics – just images and sounds and feelings. He groaned quietly in frustration and spent the next twenty minutes trying to clear his mind so he would calm down. _Stupid goddamn hormones, _he thought to himself.

He'd composed himself by the time he and Scooby needed to leave for school. But when the Mystery Machine pulled up, Shaggy was unequivocally aware of Velma, even more than usual. It got worse on the drive to school, when Fred swerved to miss a pothole and Shaggy fell sideways into Velma.

"Like, sorry," he mumbled as he righted himself. But he took his time straightening up, hesitant to move from her.

"It's okay," she murmured back to him, also reluctant for the lack of contact.

Fred swerved to miss another pothole and this time Shaggy found Velma pressed up against him.

"Jinkies," she said when she realized how close their faces were. "Maybe we should invest in some seatbelts back here?"

"Like yeah," Shaggy agreed. "There's no way this is legal. Or safe."

They were close enough to kiss. Velma knew she should sit back up, especially given the conversation she'd had with Daphne last night about her and Shaggy's chemistry. But she found it impossible to move. Shaggy, for his part, swallowed and tried to banish the images of Velma that his subconscious had dreamed up last night. Of course, while thinking about the dream, he felt his body respond, and again cursed his pituitary gland.

"Fred!" Daphne exclaimed, and Fred suddenly slammed on the brakes, causing Velma and Shaggy to tumble into the backs of Fred and Daphne's seats. Scooby landed on top of them, and they all grunted uncomfortably.

"What's going on?" Velma said from the bottom of the pile up. The way Shaggy was pressed down on top of her, she could feel the slight firmness in his lower region. She turned slightly pink and avoided his gaze.

"The light turned red. Are you guys okay back there?" Fred replied.

"Yes," Shaggy, Scooby, and Velma all replied as they righted themselves. Velma noticed Shaggy's face had gone somewhat pink as well.

All morning long, the two of them continually found themselves in various states of arousal in the other's presence. In English class, Ms. Whitacre put on a film as a reward for how well the class had done on their pop quiz several weeks ago, and in the near darkness, the electricity between Shaggy and Velma was palpable. The film was an old adaptation of _The Great Gatsby._ Scooby had fallen asleep, and neither of his human companions paid much attention to the movie either. Shaggy constantly found himself, again, distracted by Velma's slender legs and the short hemline of her skirt. Velma in turn kept finding herself glancing towards Shaggy, and then hurriedly away in embarrassment. It was almost a relief to them both when class was over.

"Like at this rate," Shaggy muttered to himself as they headed down the hall in opposite directions. "I don't know if I'll be able to make it all the way to rehearsal."

"Rut rid roo ray?" Scooby asked.

Shaggy shook his head. "Like, nothing Scoob."

Lunch was bearable only because they had Fred and Daphne as conversation buffers, though they sat next to each other during study hall and again found themselves distracted by each other. But things got much worse in Spanish class.

"Today," Sra. Rodriguez said, "we will be practicing dialogues. There will be a spoken aspect of your AP exam, so it's very important that you're able to translate English to Spanish." She gestured to Shaggy and Velma. "_Salvador y Valencia," _she said, using their chosen Spanish names, "you're in the fall musical, _si? _Why don't you come up and demonstrate a dialogue for the class?"

Scooby stayed at the desk while Shaggy and Velma walked up to the front of the room. Sra. Rodriguez handed them each a sheet of paper. "Translate this conversation from English to Spanish, _por favor. Salvador, _you read for _Persona Uno, y Valencia, _you read for _Persona Dos. _Take a moment to look over the dialogue, and then begin."

Shaggy took a look at the dialogue. It appeared to be a simulation of a real estate deal. He had the first line: "Thank you for coming. Would you like to see my house?" He thought for a minute about how to conjugate the verbs.

"_Gracias por venir," _he began. _"Te…gustaria…ver mi cama?"_

To his horror, snickers erupted from their classmates, and Velma's face turned red as a beet.

Sra. Rodriguez also looked as though she was trying not to laugh. _"Salvador," _she said to Shaggy. "The Spanish word for house is _casa, _which I know you know. I assume you got tongue tied. But you've just asked _Valencia_ if she would like to see your bed."

The giggles intensified, and Shaggy felt himself turn red as well. "I'm sorry," he apologized, feeling sufficiently embarrassed.

Velma shook her head. "Don't worry about it," she replied. She bit her lip, also embarrassed. This, of course, did nothing to help Shaggy.

Somehow the two of them got through the dialogue without any more mishaps and again, both were relieved when the bell rang.

In art class, Shaggy discovered that he'd been absent-mindedly doodling Velma while listening to Mrs. King's lecture on Renaissance artists. He crumpled the drawing and threw it away before Scooby could notice.

When school let out, Shaggy and Scooby headed downstairs to the auditorium. Shaggy gave Scooby his school bag to put in the boy's dressing room and then went to meet Velma in the practice room.

She, of course, was already waiting there, standing near the piano when he arrived. He shut the door and locked it behind him, and the two of them stared at each other for a few moments.

Then they both burst into laughter.

"Zoinks," Shaggy said once it had died down a little. "Well, today's been like…" He trailed off, unable to think of an appropriate way to describe the day.

"Different?" Velma suggested.

Shaggy shrugged. "Yeah, like, that's a good word for it." He leaned against the wall near the piano bench. "I'm like, really sorry about Spanish. That was embarrassing."

Velma shrugged. "I mean, it was embarrassing at the time, but now I think it's kind of funny." She looked away. "I don't know what it is about today, but it's been…more difficult that it usually is, you know?"

Shaggy's heart thundered in his chest. "What do you mean?" Had she been having the same kinds of feelings he'd been having all day?

She shrugged again. "I don't know. I've just been very…conscious of you today," she replied. "More so than usual."

Shaggy could relate. Images of her from his dream last night had been permeating his brain all day long. He tried now to push them away. "Like, me too," he told her. "In the Mystery Machine, in class…I've like, been having a hard time."

Velma raised her eyebrows at him as Shaggy realized what he'd said. He clapped a hand to his forehead. "Man," he sighed. "Sorry…like, I don't think I've ever had this much innuendo in one day."

Velma moved towards him. "So…it was a Freudian slip when you asked if I'd like to see your bed?" she teased. Wildly, she wondered where she'd found this bravado. Was it the knowledge of how much she'd wanted him all day? Was it the knowledge that he'd been thinking of her all day as well? Was it the knowledge that they now had to limit their interactions with each other even at rehearsal to throw off suspicion? Whatever it was, it manifested itself in this flirtatious tone.

Unsure of what had gotten into him, Shaggy returned the flirtation. "Maybe," he said darkly, bringing her close to him so they were flush against each other. Briefly, he allowed himself to imagine what it might be like, having Velma in his bed – his arms around her, her head on his chest, hair mussed and eyes blurry from sleep as golden sunlight peeked through the windows. It would certainly be a nice way to wake up. Unbidden, another image came to mind, one straight out of his dream: both of them fully unclothed, bathed in a light sheen of sweat, her muscles clenched around him as she moaned his name in pleasure.

His body reacted to the thought. And since Velma was pressed up against him, she noticed.

"What are you thinking about?" she murmured.

"Nothing," Shaggy replied huskily, fighting to maintain his composure. He wouldn't give in unless she wanted him to.

"Something you can't tell me?" she said in a whisper. Her hands dropped between them to fiddle with the hem of his shirt. "Or show me?"

That did it. Unable to contain himself any longer, Shaggy crushed his mouth to hers. Velma returned the kiss with fervor, her hands dipping beneath his shirt. Shaggy's mind went fuzzy at her touch.

"I like, had a dream about you," he admitted, breaking the kiss to remove his shirt. He hadn't been planning on telling her, but he wasn't very in control of his mental faculties at the moment. He'd been resisting her too long, and Velma's touch was more intoxicating than any drug he'd ever taken.

"Oh?" Velma was intrigued, but brought his mouth back down to hers once his shirt was off.

"Yeah," Shaggy replied breathlessly. He slid his hands under the hem of her sweater and smirked through the kiss at the way she gasped as he touched her bare skin. "It was like, a pretty excellent dream."

"What happened in it?" she asked, trailing kisses down from his mouth to his neck.

He groaned and gripped her tighter. "Well, like, we were both wearing a lot less clothes than this." What had gotten into him? He'd never been this bold before.

Velma slipped her sweater over her head so it landed on the ground beside his green v-neck. "Is this better?"

"It's like, a good start," Shaggy murmured, pulling her down onto the floor with him.

"Then what?" Velma breathed as she hovered over him. Shaggy was laying on the floor now, but he was totally unaware of the scratchy carpet on his bare back. All he felt was Velma's skin on his.

"We got a little…intimate," he whispered in her ear, shuddering as she ghosted her delicate fingers over his chest.

"More intimate than this?" she whispered back, dancing her hands down to the button of his jeans. She undid his pants and her fingers hovered at the waistband of his boxers. He felt her soft fingers on him, so close to where he needed her touch.

"Like, _fuck, _Velm," he gasped, sucking in a harsh breath at the contact.

_KNOCK KNOCK_

With a jolt, Velma removed her hands and she and Shaggy sat up, looking wide-eyed toward the door.

"Who is it?" Velma called out tentatively.

"It's me!" came Tony Moretti's cheery voice from the other side of the door. "Leesa sent me."

He didn't sound as though he'd heard anything. Velma and Shaggy relaxed slightly.

"All right, we're coming," Velma replied. They heard Tony's feet depart down the hall.

Shaggy had already slipped his shirt back on. That had been their closest call yet. They had to be more careful next time. But God, it was so hard to control himself. Was this what it was like for Fred and Daphne?

_Like, what's the matter with you? Stop thinking about Fred and Daphne! _Shaggy scolded himself.

Velma pulled her sweater on as well, flooded with embarrassment. She couldn't believe she'd almost _actually _touched Shaggy's…she couldn't even think about it. And she hadn't even asked! Shaggy at least always asked the first time he was about to try something new. Velma hadn't even had that decency. Her stomach twisted in humiliation.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled, shame heating her face. "I um…I don't know if that was more than you were ready for, but…I'm sorry."

Shaggy blinked at her, dumbfounded . Did she think he hadn't _liked _the feeling of her hand beneath his jeans? "Like, don't apologize for that," he told her. "That was…" he trailed off. Remarkable. Amazing. Incredible. "That was great," he finished lamely.

Velma looked away. "I wasn't really thinking about what I was doing. I was just…you know, acting on instinct."

Shaggy gave a rueful snort. "Like, do you think I know what I'm doing?" he asked. "You're the first girl I've ever done this kind of stuff with, Velm. The only girl. But like…when we're in here together…" he shrugged. "I like, don't want to be anywhere else."

Velma blinked at him and leaned closer. "I don't want to be anywhere else either," she admitted in a low voice.

They looked at each other, full of desire.

Velma chose that moment to look at the clock above the piano. With a sigh, she rose to her feet. "Come on," she said. "They'll be wondering where we are." Reluctantly, Shaggy followed her.

x.X.x

When they arrived at the auditorium, Mr. Atwood was nowhere in sight. Leesa and Scooby sat in the front of the house, bent over the production binder as the rest of the cast chatted idly in the seats.

"You guys have been gone awhile," Holden remarked.

Velma ignored him. "Where's Mr. Atwood?" she asked.

"He's got a stomach bug," Daphne replied. "We had a sub in class. Maintenance fixed the pulley system so we were able to work onstage. We all spent seventh period rebuilding the set where the sandbag fell, and then the sub split us up so the juniors organized the wood loft and the seniors organized the costume loft." Daphne gestured to the stage, where the structure had indeed been repaired. "I think Leesa and Scooby are trying to figure out what to do for rehearsal today," she continued.

At that moment, Leesa called out to the company. "All right everyone, gather onstage please," she said. Everyone obeyed. Once the cast had assembled, Leesa said, "I just heard from Mr. Atwood. Since he isn't here today he wants us to have a special kind of rehearsal called 'cue-to-cue.' That means we'll be jumping from one technical cue to the next, so we can fine-tune all the light, sound, and set changes. We'll just be doing Act II today – if we started from the top of the show, we'd be here all night."

"So…do you not need us?" Fred was confused.

"Oh, we need you," Leesa said. "Even if the dialogue or singing takes a backseat, we'll be calling you when we need you to stand in for various movement cues, so don't go far." She turned to Scooby. "You stay here at your desk to call the cues. I'll be with Addie and Travis in the booth."

"Rokay," Scooby agreed. He sat down at his desk and put on the communicative headphones as Leesa headed to the back of the house, where the sound and lighting booth was.

"The rest of you," Leesa called over her shoulder as she went. "Hang out in the house or the dressing rooms and listen for when we call you."

Cue-to-cue took ages, it seemed. Every time there was a new cue, Travis and his team fiddled with the lights until they were the correct color and brightness, while Addie and her team tinkered with the sound board. It was almost thirty minutes before anyone even went onstage.

Slowly but surely they made their way through Act II. Because the lighting always needed to be fiddled with, Holden was running his song, "Aftershocks," in almost total darkness. The tune was eerie and as Shaggy sat in the house with Tony (Fred, Daphne, and Velma were all onstage), he felt seriously creeped out.

"_They've managed to get rid of me, return me to the grave," _Holden sang.

"_ECT, electric chair, we shock who we can't save_

_They've cleared you of my memory, and many more as well_

_You may have wanted some of them, but who can ever tell?_

_Your brainwaves are more regular, the chemistry more pure_

_The headaches and the nausea will pass and you'll endure_

_Your son is gone forever though, of that the doctor's sure…_

_The memories will wane_

_The aftershocks remain_

_You wonder which is worse,_

_The symptoms or the cure…"_

Lights came up way too bright, illuminating Velma in Natalie's bedroom and Daphne sitting at the kitchen table with Fred. They all squinted. Then Travis overcorrected and the lights went off entirely.

"Sorry!" came Travis' voice from the lighting booth. He fixed the lights so they were the proper brightness. Shaggy glanced over at Tony, who grinned and shrugged. Shaggy grinned and shrugged back. Now that Shaggy and Velma were back to their regularly scheduled practice room escapades, Shaggy's jealousy of Tony had diminished exponentially and while it hadn't gone away completely, he was able to interact with him normally again.

"Go ahead and run the scene while we figure out the lights here," Leesa said, her voice magnified over the sound booth's speaker system. "Rogers, get set for your entrance." Shaggy nodded to Tony and got up to wait in the wings.

Fred, true to form, still had his script with him. **"Diana?" **he said, looking at the script instead of Daphne. **"Honey? You've been at this for days." **The lights continued to go between dim and bright as the scene went on.

Daphne sighed, both with frustration as Diana, and annoyance at Fred's dependency on his script. She had to tell him how much this bothered her. But now wasn't the time. **"There's something missing, Dan. It's like it's tugging at me. I can almost see it."**

"**Come to bed," **was Fred/Dan's response. He waited for a moment. **"If the memories are meant to come back…they will." **After another beat, he exited. This was Shaggy's cue to enter as Henry. He prepared to knock on the front door, but Daphne/Diana beat him to it.

"**Oh," **said Shaggy/Henry, startled. **"Sorry, Miz Goodman. I just needed to talk to Natalie about some homework." **Daphne/Diana just stared at him. **"I know it's late," **he continued. **"She's not answering her…is everything all right?"**

"**Henry," **Daphne/Diana said, finally remembering his name.

"**Yes?" **Shaggy/Henry replied.

Daphne/Diana:** "You remind me of someone. How old are you?"**

Shaggy/Henry:** "Seventeen. Why?"**

There was a beat. **"I don't know," **Daphne/Diana said. **"Natalie's in her room."**

Shaggy/Henry went in and climbed the precarious stairs to Natalie's bedroom as Holden/Gabe continued his ghostly song.

"_They've managed to get rid of me – I'm gone without a trace._

_But sear the soul and leave a scar no treatment can erase._

_They cut away the cancer but forgot to fill the hole._

_They moved me from your memory – I'm still there in your soul._

_Your life goes back to normal now, or so they all believe._

_Your heart is in your chest again, not hanging from your sleeve._

_They've driven out the demons, and they've earned you this reprieve:_

_The memories are gone._

_The aftershocks live one._

_But with nothing to remember, is there nothing left to grieve?"_

Daphne/Diana repeated the final line. _"With nothing to remember…"_

"Cut!" said Leesa from the booth. "I think we're good on lights for this number. Rogers and Dinkley, stay on stage so we can get the light cues for the next number. Blake, Jones, and Walsh, don't go far."

_This is it, _Daphne realized. _This is when I can tell Fred what's been bothering me. _But where to go? She wanted the conversation to be private, so they couldn't sit in the house. But the practice rooms where Shaggy and Velma met were too far away.

"Freddie," Daphne murmured to him as they exited. "Come up to the costume loft with me for a minute." She led the way, and no one noticed as they climbed the stairs. In her head, she practiced what she'd say so he wouldn't have his feelings hurt.

But Fred was too hasty, and almost immediately started defending himself as soon as the door to the loft was closed.

"I know what you're going to say," Fred said. "But I'm not going to back off Holden. I _know _he's involved in this somehow. We just have to get him to come out dressed as the Phantom and then I'll set a trap –"

"Fred!" Daphne exclaimed, slightly taken aback. "I'm not here to talk about Holden or traps or the mystery of the Phantom. If you'd listen for a second –"

"It's the only way to catch him!" Fred barreled on as though Daphne hadn't spoken. "I have a plan for a trap. Ever since that sandbag fell, I've been thinking about ways we can utilize the pulley system in the fly space to rig up a trap. It should be pretty simple, all I need is a way to figure out how to catch him in his costume –"

"Fred, would you shut up about the damn trap?" Daphne interrupted. Everything she'd planned to say had flown out of her brain. "I swear, you care more about traps than about our relationship. I'm tired of it! You're so focused on this mystery that there's no room left in your head for anything else."

Fred looked at her with fire in his eyes. "You sound like our parents, you know," he told her. "That's almost exactly what they said before they gave us the Ultimatum. Isn't that why you made us sign up for this play in the first place? Because you said we could get around the Ultimatum _and_ have a mystery to solve?" He threw his hands in the air. "If that's true, then why am I the only one trying to solve this mystery?"

"I didn't _make _you do anything," Daphne countered, even though it wasn't true. She knew that none of her friends would have auditioned if she hadn't asked them to. She'd even said that very thing to Holden yesterday. But hearing Fred say it like that made embarrassment – and therefore, anger – flood through her. "And the rest of us aren't as obsessed with the mystery because we have to do things like memorize our lines and learn our songs. The show opens in _two weeks, _Fred, and you're the only one of us who isn't committed!"

"I am committed!" Fred shot back. "I'm committed to solving this mystery!"

"You're not committed to this musical! You're not committed to me!" Daphne shouted.

As this statement landed, they both stared at each other in fury. Daphne hadn't meant to say that last part. Tears of frustration threatened to spill down her cheeks, but she blinked them away.

Fred's gaze softened. "Is that what you think?" he murmured. "That I'm not committed to you?"

Daphne threw her hands up in exasperation. "What am I supposed to think?" she exclaimed, still trying to keep her angry tears in check. "No one else is struggling with their lines. No one else is obsessed with trying to prove Holden guilty." She sat down on the old green couch, trying to calm down.

Fred followed and sat down beside her. Was this what she was really mad about? If so, Fred had a simple solution. "Daphne," he said seriously. "If I wasn't committed to you, I wouldn't have auditioned for this play. If I wasn't committed to you, I wouldn't be so focused on keeping you safe from the Phantom." He gently took her chin in his hand and brought her face to his for a kiss so passionate that Daphne's head spun. "And if I wasn't committed to you, I sure as hell wouldn't kiss you like this," he said gutturally when he detached his lips from hers.

Daphne blinked at him. "I don't believe you," she murmured. "You better do it again, just so I know you're serious."

Before she knew what was happening, Daphne felt Fred's mouth on hers, hot and urgent. She kissed him back fervently, already untying his ascot and shifting her position so she lay beneath him on the couch.

Fred gently bit Daphne's lower lip, and slid his tongue into her mouth when she granted him access. Passion overwhelmed them both and Daphne pulled Fred closer. In moments, his shirt lay on the ground and Daphne's dress had been unzipped and discarded as well. Their warm mouths collided with each other over and over again as Fred's hands moved higher up Daphne's body, until his fingers reached behind her back to unhook her bra. Once it had been unfastened, she shrugged it off and Fred delicately kissed her breast.

Daphne's breath hitched at the contact, and she gave a slight whimper as he teased her with his tongue. Excitement overcame Fred at the sounds Daphne made, and encouraged him to continue his ministrations.

In the back of her mind, Daphne recognized the fact that, though unlikely, there was the possibility that someone could come in here any minute. The door to the costume loft didn't lock. But she was too preoccupied with the feeling of Fred's mouth on her to really care.

She tangled the fingers of one hand in the fine blond hair at the nape of Fred's neck while her other hand gripped the side of the couch cushion.

Or, what she thought was the couch cushion.

Coming out of her blissful stupor for a moment, she realized the fabric she had grabbed was a different material than the couch. And it appeared to be coming from underneath the cushion.

"Freddie," she said, sitting up slightly. "Hold on a minute." Fred looked up at her, confusedly. Daphne wriggled out from under him and pulled something black out from beneath the cushion. She stared at it in confusion for a moment before she recognized it.

"Oh my gosh," she whispered. "This is the jacket for Holden's tuxedo." She looked at Fred. "Do you think the rest of it is in the couch too?"

Fred shrugged. "Only one way to find out." He jumped off the couch and helped her pull away the rest of the cushions. A few moments later, they had the entire ensemble – the shirt, the pants, the bowtie. They even found the socks and shoes under the couch.

"Jeepers…it's all here," Daphne murmured.

"Well I guess it makes sense that a costume would be in the costume loft," Fred said. "But it's strange that it's in the couch cushions. And it looks like someone hid it here in a hurry. Why?"

Daphne shook her head. "No one comes up here really except Harmony and the other costume designers. But it's been a while since they…wait." Daphne suddenly remembered what had happened during drama class. She'd even mentioned it to Velma at the start of rehearsal. After they fixed the set, she and the rest of the juniors had organized the wood loft, and the seniors had organized the costume loft.

The senior class were the last people who'd been in there.

Which meant that Holden was one of the last people who'd been in there.

_Oh my God…Freddie might be right._

Daphne furrowed her brow resolutely. "Babe," she said, reaching for her discarded clothes. "Let's get dressed. We have to confront Holden." Fred looked at her in astonishment, and she grinned. "Now it's my turn to show you how committed I am to you."

x.X.x

Onstage, Shaggy and Velma were still running through "Hey #2" at Leesa's request while Travis and his team figured out the light situation. Velma sat at Natalie's desk in her room, while Shaggy stood in the doorway.

Shaggy/Henry: "_Hey."_

Velma/Natalie: "_Hey."_

Shaggy/Henry: "_So, tomorrow's the dance._

_It's annoying, I know._

_But let's go."_

Velma/Natalie shook her head. _"Not a chance."_

Shaggy/Henry: _"Let me know you again."_

Velma/Natalie: _"Not right now."_

Shaggy/Henry: _"Okay, when?_

_Say wait, and I'll wait."_

Velma/Natalie: _"It's already too late."_

Shaggy/Henry: _"There's no way it's too late,_

_There's no way."_

Velma/Natalie: _"Hey…hey!"_

Shaggy/Henry: _"I stayed by your side."_

Velma/Natalie: _"Will you listen? Just shut up and listen!"_

Shaggy/Henry: _"Why do I get denied?"_

Velma/Natalie: _"You remind me of me_

_And how fucked up I can be."_

Shaggy took a deep breath. Every time Velma said "fuck," his body reacted the same way. And now that he was thinking of her in the context of his dream – and the practice room – it wasn't getting any easier. Especially since they hadn't been able to reach any kind of conclusion today. He couldn't wait to get back to the practice room.

"_Okay," _he sang, trying to bring himself back to the moment. _"Hey._

_Let's start over, clean slate._

_I'll come by here at eight._

_If you show, then we'll go._

_If you don't, well, we'll see." _He brought the tickets out of his pocket.

She sighed. _"You just don't give up."_

He looked at her seriously before placing a ticket beside her. _"So don't give up on me."_

With a glance away, she sang, _"Goodbye, Henry…"_

As the last notes of the song faded out, the sudden slam of a door from above caused everyone to jump.

"What was that?" asked Tony, who had moved to the wings.

"Rhe Rhantom?" Scooby worried.

But the sound of scampering feet thundered down the stairs from the costume loft and a moment later, Fred and Daphne burst onstage, holding a bundle of cloth in their hands.

"Look what we found!" Daphne cried triumphantly.

Holden came out from the wings to see what she had. "Oh my God," he breathed. "It's my tux. Where did you find it?"

"Under the cushions of the couch in the costume loft," Fred said.

"What were you guys doing up there?" asked Velma.

Fred and Daphne exchanged a shifty gaze. "Looking for clues," Fred replied evasively.

Shaggy blinked, remembering that where Fred and Daphne were concerned, "looking for clues" was often a euphemism for fooling around. _Like, seriously? At school? _Shaggy thought to himself, before remembering what he and Velma had been up to in the practice room earlier that very afternoon.

"How'd you find it?" asked Tony.

"On accident," was Daphne's ambiguous response.

Shaggy and Velma glanced at each other dubiously.

Holden took the bundle of cloth from Daphne and grimaced. "It's so wrinkled. Harmony's gonna shit herself," he murmured. Harmony, indeed, emerged from the wings and gasped when she saw the state that the costume was in.

"Then why did you hide it there?" Fred asked him pointedly.

Holden stared at him in disbelief. "Oh my God, are you still on that, Jones?"

"Listen, Holden," Daphne spoke up. "I want to believe you. I do. But this is too much of a coincidence. The seniors organized the costume loft today. You're the only senior in this production, so you're the only one who's been up there recently."

"I am not the only senior!" Holden exclaimed. "Leesa, Harmony, Travis, and Addie are all seniors too. They were all there with me this afternoon." He jerked his head towards Harmony, who stood bewildered on the edge of the stage. "Maybe she did it. She's the head of costume design."

"Hey, leave me out of this!" Harmony cried. "Why would I want to ruin my own costume like that?"

"Do you think I wanted to ruin this costume?" Holden replied heatedly. "Or any part of this production? That's bullshit!"

"They've got a point, though," one of Harmony's helpers piped up. "We haven't touched that costume since we gave it to you, and you _were _the last one to have it."

"I didn't wreck this tuxedo!" Holden shouted.

"Methinks he doth protest too much," a stagehand quipped out of the corner of her mouth.

"Shut up!" Holden yelled. He whirled around and pointed a finger at Daphne. "See what you've done? This is all your fault. I thought you were my friend, Daphne!"

"ENOUGH!" boomed Leesa's voice from the booth, magnified over the microphone. Everyone cringed at the volume. She came out of the booth and stormed up to the stage. "Listen," she said in a furious whisper when she arrived. "I know that there's a lot of weird shit happening. But we are _all _stressed out, so quit blaming each other!" She sighed and rubbed her temples. "Just go home. We'll reconvene on Monday when Mr. Atwood is back, and maybe we can make some damn progress."

Silently, everyone departed. Scooby and Leesa returned to the booth for a production meeting. Fred and Daphne left for the Mystery Machine deliberately not looking at Holden, who stalked off without a word. The pit orchestra shuffled away, saying nothing. Tony looked at Shaggy and Velma, distressed.

"Lot of bad blood around here these days," he murmured.

Shaggy clapped him on the back comfortingly. "Like don't worry about it, man," Shaggy said. "I'm like, sure it'll all blow over soon." But he wasn't sure. He wasn't sure at all.

Tony nodded and sighed. "You guys go ahead to your meeting. I'll let you know when your friends are back with the van."

Shaggy and Velma obeyed, hurrying down the hall to their practice room. Once they were safely inside, they looked at each other worriedly.

"Well, Daphne and Fred seem to have made up," Velma said. "She believes him about Holden being the Phantom, in any case."

"Yeah," Shaggy sighed. "But like, at what cost? Now he's fighting with everyone."

They stood in silence for a while.

"Like, can you believe Daphne and Fred?" Shaggy finally said. "It's one thing when we're like, investigating a haunted house or whatever, but this was _at school_ and everyone was like, just downstairs. What were they thinking?"

Velma blinked at him. "I think you mean what are _we _thinking." She leaned against the wall. "We're no better than them, really."

Shaggy shrugged. "Like, I guess. But the main difference is that like, anyone could have caught them in the costume loft. And there's like, no chance of anyone walking in on us in here." He locked the door. "Especially now."

Velma arched a flirtatious eyebrow at him. "You trying to pick up where we left off?" She bit her lip.

Shaggy looked down at her, heart in his eyes. He couldn't get enough of her. He wanted her right now. He wanted her all the time.

"Is that okay?" he asked. As long as she wanted him too, he would happily give in to her over and over again.

In response, she stood on her toes and kissed him heatedly.

"You'd think," Velma murmured between kisses, "that after all these weeks – this wouldn't have the same effect on us."

Shaggy shook his head, deepening the kiss. "I like, don't think there's any way I'll get tired of this," he confessed to her in a low voice. Once again, he removed his shirt and brought her to the floor with him. She pulled her turtleneck off in return. "How about you?" he asked, kissing behind her ear. "Will you like, ever get tired of this?"

Velma's eyes fluttered shut. "Unlikely," she whispered into his neck.

As he lay over top of her, feeling her mouth on his neck, Shaggy couldn't believe how much he wanted her. Up till these past several weeks, the only things he'd desired this much had been edible. He wouldn't have believed it possible, but he consistently found himself craving Velma more than he'd ever craved food. And earlier this afternoon, she'd proven how much she wanted him too. Their lips found each other again, and he kissed her hungrily. His brain buzzed with desire. Right now, at this moment, there was no room in his mind for anything else. Just Velma. Only Velma.

Without really thinking about it, he began trailing his hands up her legs until they were under her skirt.

"Shaggy!" Velma gasped in surprise, breaking the kiss.

Shaggy immediately moved his hands away. "I'm sorry. Are you okay? I like, should have asked first. I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to assume..."

Velma's brows creased. She'd gotten over her shock – _no one _had _ever _touched her there before – and she was trying to decide how she felt about it. She sat in silence for a few moments, deep in thought.

"It's all right," she said finally. "It was just…surprising."

Shaggy swallowed. "Velma," he said seriously. "Like, listen to me very carefully. We do not have to do anything that you don't want to do."

She blinked at him. "What makes you think I don't want this?"

Shaggy gawked at her. "I don't know, maybe the fact that you like, jumped two feet in the air when I touched you?"

Velma stared at him resolutely. "Do it again," she said softly. When he didn't, she put his hand on her leg. "It's okay," she said, and he could tell by her tone that it was. "Touch me. Please."

He wasn't going to make her beg, hot as that was. But he knew he had to start slow. Carefully, Shaggy moved his hand up Velma's leg, his eyes scrutinizing her face. When his fingers approached the hem of her skirt, he waited until she nodded once before he crossed that threshold. She gasped again and shut her eyes, but she didn't remove his hand.

"Like are you okay?" he asked her.

"Yes," she breathed, and to Shaggy's astonishment, a note of desire colored her tone.

"Do you want, like, more?" he said softly.

She nodded immediately. "Yes. Please."

With cautious sensitivity, he let his hand drift between her legs, and felt a thrill of pleasure go through him when she bit her lip and hissed at the contact.

In response, she toyed with the button of his jeans. "Can I touch you?" she whispered. It was almost pleading, the way she said it. That was the most arousing thing of all.

"Like, God, please," Shaggy murmured back, removing his hand from her momentarily in order to help her undo and lower his jeans. He gasped sharply as he felt Velma's hand tentatively brush him over his boxers. "_Vel_ma," he moaned at her touch. It felt even better than it had in his dream, even with the barrier of his boxers.

Velma's heart thudded at the guttural response that she had caused. That. _She_. Had. Caused. She couldn't get over that thought as she kissed and nipped along his neck.

Hazy passion clouded Shaggy's mind as the feel of Velma's kisses and caresses overwhelmed him. He continued ghosting his fingers between her legs, and though he wasn't touching her skin directly, he reveled in the reaction it elicited in her. Just as she had in his dream, Velma moaned Shaggy's name with abandon, trying to stifle her pleasure into his shoulder or his neck, but not always with great success. These sounds, too, were even better than they had been in his dream. Shaggy also grunted and groaned rather recklessly as their hands continued their exploration of each other's bodies. His dream came to mind again, but he knew this, the real thing, was so much more than his subconscious could have ever concocted.

They continued to touch each other over the underwear, neither quite brave enough to venture farther, until Shaggy realized that he was either going to have to take care of himself right here in the practice room (which he had vowed never to do again after that first and only time), or stop all together.

"Velm," he whispered in her ear. "I like…really don't want to stop. Believe me, it's like the last thing I want. But I think we like…have to. I don't…I don't want things to get like, out of control."

Velma sighed and nodded. "You're right," she said, planting one final lingering kiss onto the side of his neck.

He groaned. "Like don't make this more difficult than it already is," he begged.

Velma chuckled and withdrew her hands from him. Already, Shaggy pined for the contact.

As they dressed and tried to calm down, Velma wondered aloud why no one had knocked on the door yet.

"Like, I don't know," Shaggy replied. "But I'm not complaining."

They grinned at each other.

"I'm not complaining either," Velma replied. Then, with a small sigh, she continued. "I should warn you though…people are starting to get suspicious."

Shaggy furrowed his brow. "Suspicious of what?"

"Of us," Velma replied, not quite looking him in the eye. "I know that the…the time we spend in here…" (why couldn't she just call it what it was – hooking up?) "…has been really helpful to our performance, but I think we might need to…calm it down a little." She jerked her head towards the door. "Out in the real world, at least."

Shaggy nodded slowly. "Like as long as we can keep it up in here, I think I can handle myself out there."

"Believe me," said Velma, standing up. "I have no plans of stopping this."

Shaggy grinned and stood up with her. He had calmed down enough to leave the room. "Like, me neither," he told her.

When they opened the door to the hallway, they were shocked to find Tony leaning against the opposite wall, as far away from the door as he could stand. His face was bright red and he didn't look either of them in the eye.

They stared at him dumbfounded for a few moments before realizing why he was embarrassed.

"Like, oh my God," Shaggy gasped.

"How long have you been here?" Velma whispered.

Tony shook his head, still not making eye contact. "Not long," he said vaguely, in a way that clearly indicated he had, indeed, been there awhile.

Shaggy and Velma looked at each other aghast as they understood what this meant.

They had not been quiet enough. Tony had heard them. And now, he knew their secret.

Velma got her nerve back first.

"Tony, where are Daphne, Fred, and Scooby?" she asked him.

Tony jerked a thumb towards the door to the outside. "In the parking lot with your van. I saw them pull up and told them I'd come tell you they were here, but then..." he trailed off. "I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to..." Again, he didn't finish his sentence.

Shaggy hid his face in his hands and groaned. "Oh man, oh man, oh man," he muttered to himself, horrified and humiliated. He had _just _been saying how irresponsible it was of Daphne and Fred to fool around at school. Now he and Velma had been caught, and the shame he felt was unparalleled.

Velma grabbed Tony's shoulders and forced him to look at her. "Tony, listen to me," she said authoritatively. "Nobody knows about this. Not Daphne, not Fred, and certainly not Scooby Doo. And we desperately want to keep it that way."

Tony looked at them skeptically. "No one knows?"

"No one but you," Velma told him. "So it is _imperative _that you keep this a secret. Do you understand?"

Tony looked at them both in disbelief.

"Like, _please, _man," Shaggy said. "No one can know about this. We've like, gotta just keep it between us."

Finally, Tony nodded slowly. "All right. I won't tell anyone. But uh...can I offer a word of advice?"

Shaggy and Velma nodded confusedly.

Tony turned red again. "If you wanna keep this a secret...I feel like I should tell you that I could hear you through the door. You're uh...kinda loud. Both of you."

With that, he hurried out of the building without a further glance at them, leaving Shaggy and Velma behind him, mortified, in the school hallway.

* * *

**Sponge: These practice room scenes are starting to get away from me. Hope you enjoyed it, though! Thanks for reading. Review if you please!**


	13. How Could I Ever Forget?

**Sponge: Welcome back! Before we get into the story, I am pleased to announce that I am now on TWITTER! You can follow me there at Sponge_Addict if you want to know what I'm thinking while I write. I'm hard at work on the threequel, so you can rest assured I'll be procrastinating on Twitter a lot. Anyway, here's chapter 13! Warnings: some angst, mentions of death and abandonment, a bit of kissing, and language, as always. Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Scooby-Doo characters. They belong to Cartoon Network, Warner Brothers, and Hanna Barbera. All lyrics to the song "How Could I Ever Forget" belong to Brian Yorkey. All dialogue in bold comes from the **_**Next to Normal **_**script.**

* * *

**Chapter 13: How Could I Ever Forget?**

Over the weekend, Shaggy bit the bullet and bought condoms. He had been on the fence about it, as he didn't want to seem presumptuous, but his and Velma's most recent practice room venture made up his mind. His motto had always been "better safe than sorry," and it applied to all aspects of his life, from mystery-solving to his intimacies with Velma. They'd been able to stop themselves on Friday, but would they have that same sense of self-control in the future? Shaggy didn't want to be caught unprepared when they found out – whenever that would be. So he asked to borrow his father's car and drove to Lyonsville under the guise of buying a new sketchpad for art class. He did buy a sketchpad, but in reality, he wanted to go to a town where he didn't know anyone to purchase the condoms. He was terrified of running into someone he knew, less so for the act of buying condoms, and more for the idea that someone from Coolsville might find out about him and Velma. It was bad enough that Tony knew. Shaggy dreaded Monday more than he normally did.

To his credit, Tony was totally normal in history class on Monday morning. He greeted Shaggy as he usually did and he didn't bring up Velma at all.

In the practice room later though, Shaggy and Velma were much more careful than they had been on Friday. All their clothes stayed on, though they struggled to keep their passion in check. Regardless, they sighed discontentedly when Tony knocked on the door after five minutes.

"Are ya decent in there?" he whispered. Velma opened the door and fixed him with an unamused stare. Tony shrugged. "Leesa says it's time to start. Mr. Atwood's still not here, so I'm not sure what we're gonna do today." He rolled his eyes and gave them his signature lopsided smile. "If it's more cue-to-cue though, I'm gonna scream."

Shaggy and Velma nodded in agreement, and three of them headed for the auditorium together, where they found Leesa, Scooby, and the rest of the cast standing onstage.

"Come on up," Leesa called to them as they walked towards the stage.

"Like, where's Mr. Atwood?" asked Shaggy when he, Velma, and Tony had reached the rest of the group.

"He's still got that stomach bug," Leesa replied. "He told me he should be feeling better tomorrow, but today he wants us to keep on with cue-to-cue."

Tony looked at Shaggy and Velma. He opened his mouth wide and put his hands to each side of his face, like in the famous painting by Edvard Munch. Shaggy couldn't help but chuckle.

Leesa didn't notice, or if she did, she didn't say anything about it. "Remember, everyone needs to stay nearby during cue-to-cue. We'll pick up where we ended things on Friday, at the reprise of 'You Don't Know,' and then we'll go on into light cues for 'How Could I Ever Forget.'"

Shaggy's stomach clenched, all humor gone. He wasn't in that song, and up till now he'd always been sure to be out of the room when Daphne and Fred worked on it. No chance of that now, since cue-to-cue was happening. He shot a worried glance at Scooby, who looked back understandingly.

No one else noticed Shaggy's discomfort. Leesa, Travis, and Addie went to the booth. Everyone else headed for the house except for Daphne and Tony, who were in "You Don't Know (Reprise)." They set the scene for Dr. Madden's office – Daphne in one chair, Tony in another.

"Action," Leesa called. The pit orchestra began the music.

Daphne/Diana fixed Tony/Dr. Madden with an irritated gaze before she sang.

"_It's been four weeks since the treatment_

_And my mind is still a mess_

_And what's left to be remembered,_

_Well, it's anybody's guess._

_Cause my past is like the weather –_

_It will come and it will go._

_I don't know_

_Even know_

_What it is that I don't know."_

Shaggy sat between Velma and Fred, trying to zone out so he'd be ready for the next song.

Daphne/Diana continued. _"I'm some Christopher Columbus_

_Sailing out into my mind…_

_With no map of where I'm going,_

_Or of what I've left behind._

_I don't know_

_The things I don't know._

_I'm sure something's missing –_

_I wish it would show._

_I don't know…_

_You say take it slow,_

_And I do, although_

_How I do_

_I don't know."_

Tony/Dr. Madden was sat forward, his elbows on his knees as he sang back.

"_Are you talking with your husband?"_

Daphne/Diana: _"Well, he hasn't much to say."_

Tony/Dr. Madden: _"Is it helping you remember?"_

Daphne/Diana shrugged. _"I remember that's his way."_

Tony/Dr. Madden pressed on. _"Does the puzzle come together,_

_Piece by piece and row by row?"_

Daphne/Diana stood and threw her arms up in frustration. _"I don't know_

_I don't know_

_Where the fucking pieces go._

_Cause I don't know how this started,_

_So I won't know when it's done."_

Tony/Dr. Madden got up to calm her. _"Have you talked of your depression,_

_Your delusions, and your son?"_

The music stopped as this landed.

Daphne/Diana stared at Tony/Dr. Madden in disbelief. **"My what?" **she whispered.

Tony/Dr. Madden furrowed his brow in confusion. **"Your husband didn't—" **but he cut himself off before he said anything more. He took a breath and began again. **"I think you two…should talk more."**

Daphne/Diana clenched her jaw. **"We should talk more? That's it? I don't even remember marrying this man, it's not like I'm some sexually frustrated soccer mom."**

Almost to himself, Tony/Dr. Madden said, **"Interestingly, the underlying challenges are similar." **Then, back to her. **"I'll see you next week."**

"**But…" **Daphne/Diana began.

Tony/Dr. Madden held up a hand to stop her. **"Next week." **He exited, leaving Daphne/Diana alone.

While Travis fiddled with the lights, the stagehands reset the scene so Daphne/Diana was back in the Goodman house. Holden/Gabe entered with the music box from "I Dreamed a Dance." The script called for him to hand it to Diana, who takes it without seeing him, and then seems surprised to find it in her hands. The entire exchange was rougher than it should have been – Holden practically threw the music box at Daphne, who just barely caught it. They glared at each other murderously.

"Focus, actors," Leesa's amplified voice came over the sound system as Scooby sighed in defeat. Fred left his seat to get ready for his entrance, grimacing at Shaggy and Velma as he went. Tony sat down in his place.

Trying to get back into character, Daphne/Diana opened the music box and stared at it until Fred entered.

"**What are you doing?" **he cried, rushing forward.

Daphne/Diana closed the box and glanced at him. Holden/Gabe stomped offstage.

"**What is this?" **she asked him, trying to ignore Holden's theatrics.

"**Where'd you get that?" **Fred/Dan asked in response. **"It's nothing, an old music box."**

He reached for it, but Daphne/Diana pulled it away.

"**We played it for the baby," **she murmured, remembering. **"Sometimes it helped him sleep."**

Fred/Dan shook his head. **"Diana –"**

"**Him." **Daphne/Diana looked at him, realization spreading across her face. **"We did have a boy."**

Fred/Dan shook his head again. **"Diana. You – you shouldn't."**

Shaggy heard Tony whisper, "He's getting better at his lines."

Daphne/Diana began to sing. _"We were still living downtown…"_

Fred/Dan: **"It's only going to make it worse."**

"It's not a good idea," Leesa corrected from the booth.

Tony frowned. "I guess I spoke too soon," he remarked.

Daphne/Diana continued singing, though she was no longer in the moment. _"My black coat thrown over my blue nightgown._

_You drove too fast –_

_The lights of the city flew past."_

Fred/Dan made a pained expression. **"Please," **he whispered. **"Don't."**

Daphne/Diana: _"How could I ever forget?_

_Outside the morning was cool and wet_

_He had such chills…_

_But still – he lay there so still._

_Just eighteen months old…_

_So cold…_

_We ran him inside,_

_Lost – worrying, wondering._

_That hospital room –_

_That gloom –"_

Shaggy was suddenly aware of a soft weight on his knee. He looked down to see that Scooby Doo had come up from the front of the house to sit with him, and put his head on his knee. Shaggy patted the dog and tried to make his mind go elsewhere, so he wouldn't have to pay attention to the song. It helped that Daphne and Fred both seemed distracted onstage as well.

Daphne/Diana: _"How could I ever forget?"_

Fred/Dan: _"How could I ever forget?"_

Daphne/Diana: _"Screaming at doctors,"_

Fred/Dan: _"God I was so upset."_

Daphne/Diana: _"Alarmed, upset._

_They said to wait,_

_They never said we were too late."_

Fred/Dan: _"Diana – don't._

_You think this will help,_

_But it won't."_

Daphne/Diana: _"But I was a child…"_

Fred/Dan: _"So many years ago…"_

Daphne/Diana: _"Raising a child."_

Fred/Dan: _"So much we could not know…"_

Daphne/Diana: _"Those weeks full of joy…_

_Then – a moment of dread._

_Someone simply said_

_Your child…is…"_

Then Fred and Daphne sang together. _"How could I ever forget?_

_This was the moment my life was set._

_That day that I lost you –_

_It's clear as the day we met._

_How could I ever forget?"_

Shaggy exhaled deeply as the song came to an end. Velma noticed, and looked at him inquisitively. She and Scooby made eye contact, and the dog very subtly shook his head. Onstage, oblivious to the people in the house, Fred and Daphne grimaced at each other, knowing the song hadn't gone as well as it could have.

"Cut," Leesa called. "Everyone up on stage." She seemed annoyed, so everyone followed her apprehensively. Leesa dismissed the techies and the orchestra, much to the confusion of the cast. Once the rest of the cast had made it to the stage, she had them all sit in a circle on the floor. Holden sat beside her, glaring daggers at Mystery Inc. Tony tactfully dropped down on Holden's other side so no one in the gang had to sit next to him. Velma sat next to Tony, with Shaggy on her other side, then Scooby, then Fred, then Daphne. Leesa looked at everyone seriously.

"All right," she told them. "I know that tensions are high with everyone these days because weird stuff has been going on at rehearsal, but it's getting to the point where it's affecting your abilities to work together. So first things first – you all are going to apologize to each other." She indicated Holden and Mystery Inc. "I'm positive no one in the cast is involved with all the shit that's going on, and you guys need to bury the hatchet." She glared at them fiercely, daring them to defy her.

Everyone in the gang mumbled an apology to Holden, who looked away and muttered back one of his own. Leesa rolled her eyes. "Whatever. That'll do for now. But regardless, it's time we had a cast bonding session." She jerked her head over at Shaggy and Velma. "Like what they do every day before and after rehearsal. Their practice room meetings have helped them a lot, and I think we'll find the same result if we all do it as a group."

Velma caught Tony trying not to laugh and she elbowed him subtly, but hard. No one but him knew _exactly _what Shaggy and Velma did in the practice room, and they were determined that nobody else find out.

"So," said Leesa, who hadn't noticed any of the exchange. "It's no secret that this play is full of dark themes – attempted suicide, depression and other mental illnesses, the death of a child...and I think we're all having trouble here, with the song we just did in particular, because we haven't been completely vulnerable with each other." She looked at each member of the cast seriously. "How can we be vulnerable on stage in front of an audience when we can't even do that with each other?" She didn't wait for a response. "Dig down deep into yourselves, and try to think of an example from your own life that you could bring to the portrayals of your characters. Obviously none of us are parents, so we can't fully relate to Diana and Dan, but is there something else that you could use to capture that heartache?" She looked at Velma. "Natalie strives for perfection. What's something you strive for?" She looked to Holden. "Gabe wants to be noticed. What do you want?"

The cast was silent, no one wanting to be the first to speak up.

Leesa sighed. "Okay then, I'll get the ball rolling. Not a lot of people know this, but my aunt committed suicide when I was in middle school." She looked down. "We were really close. I was devastated when she died. If I was an actor in this play, that's the feeling I would take with me into my performance." She looked back at the cast. "Anyone else?"

More silence. Then, Tony cleared his throat.

"Well, it's not a death, but it coulda been. My brother was an alcoholic."

Shaggy turned his head to stare at him. He'd met Tony's brother once, very briefly, at a party last winter. It was the same party where Fred and Daphne had hooked up for the first time. _Like, what was that dude's name? _Shaggy racked his brain trying to think of it.

Velma got there first. "Joey?" she asked, looking at Tony with concern. "I remember him. He picked you up from Brandon Michaels' party last year."

Tony nodded. "Yeah. I had no idea he was struggling with addiction then. That's why he was so eager to get out of there."

Shaggy remembered how uncomfortable and annoyed Joey had looked at that party, but he'd figured it was because Joey, the older, college-age brother, didn't want to be at a high school party to give Tony a ride home.

"He'd taken a year off school," Tony continued, "because his drinking had gotten so bad, and my parents sent him to rehab. I didn't know anything about it until that night, when he came to pick me up. He didn't think there'd be alcohol at that party, which is why he'd volunteered to come get me. He told me everything on the car ride home. He's been sober for almost a year now, but..." Tony shook his head. "I dunno. The way he told it, it had the potential to get real bad real quick."

"I'm sorry, Tony," Leesa said, sympathy shining through her eyes. "That must have been really hard on your family."

Holden clapped Tony on the shoulder in comfort. Without looking at the group, he said,

"My dad disowned me when I came out."

Shaggy blinked at him, stricken.

Everyone else gawked at Holden, just as shocked as Shaggy was. "He did _what?_" Fred murmured, aghast.

Holden nodded, still not making eye contact with anyone. "He and my mom broke up when I was really little, but he was still my dad. I always had a relationship with him. He lives in Lyonsville, so I'd see him at least once a week growing up. I spent a lot of holidays with him too, and breaks from school. We were really close. And then I told him I was gay..." Holden stopped talking for a moment, seemingly trying to get control of his emotions. He said the next part in a rush. "...It was bad. There was a lot of shouting and crying and throwing things, and at the end of it all, he said I wasn't his son. And I haven't seen him since." Unshed tears glimmered in his eyes, but he blinked them away before they could fall. "It only happened two years ago," he continued in a whisper. "But I don't talk about him anymore." He shook his head. "That shit broke my heart."

Daphne felt her own heart breaking for the pain her friend had gone through. She slid away from Fred, across the circle to where Holden was, and lay her head on his shoulder. "Holden," she murmured. "I'm so sorry. That's…that's terrible."

Tony put a comforting hand on Holden's other shoulder.

Fred remembered the day he'd accused Holden of being the Phantom, and the look that had crossed Holden's face when he talked about his father's real name. He looked at Holden across the expanse of the small circle. "I'm sorry about what I said that day," he said. "About Harrison Walsh being your dad. I didn't mean to bring him up and cause you all that pain again."

Holden shrugged. "Like I said, I don't talk about my dad anymore. There's no way you could have known."

When no one said anything for a while, Daphne took a shaky breath.

"My parents..." she began. She looked over at Velma, who nodded. She was the only one in the gang who knew about this. "Their marriage hasn't been great these days. Or years, really. They never talk to each other, and they don't do anything together. I can't remember the last time I heard them say they love each other. They don't even sleep in the same room." She shrugged. "I'm the youngest of five, you know. I have four older sisters, and they've all moved out. I'm...I'm worried about what's going to happen when I go to college. I have a feeling that as soon as I leave, the divorce papers will come out."

"Daph," Fred muttered in disbelief, scooting over to her. Their circle had become more of a clump now. "I had no idea."

"It's part of the reason they don't approve of our relationship, I think," Daphne told him. "Because my parents were high school sweethearts who got married young. They're afraid the same thing will happen to us. To me."

Shaggy and Scooby looked at each other. Now, at least, Shaggy knew why the Blakes had grimaced back at his house on the last day of summer vacation when Fred and Daphne held hands before the Ultimatum was delivered.

Fred put an arm around Daphne and kissed her on the temple. He addressed his next words to the whole group.

"You know my dad raised me on his own, right?" he said. Everyone nodded – it was common knowledge that Mayor Jones was a single father. Fred sighed. "It's because my mom left right after I was born."

"Like, she divorced your dad, you mean?" Shaggy asked, but Fred shook his head.

"No, she and my dad never even got married," Fred told him. "When she got pregnant with me, my dad wanted to marry her, but he always told me that she left to be a stock photo model. That's some bullshit." Fred shrugged, and gripped Daphne's shoulder for support. "When I was thirteen, I found a letter my mom had written to my dad after I'd been born. The basic gist of it was that she didn't want to be his wife...and she didn't want to be my mother." He sighed again and looked at the floor. "She didn't want either one of us."

Daphne's heart twisted in her chest, as though someone was trying to wring it out. "Freddie," she whispered, as a few tears escaped down her cheeks. "I can't believe you never told me that." She put a hand on his arm and leaned her forehead into his shoulder.

Fred blinked back tears of his own. "It's hard to talk about," he said.

Holden nodded in understanding. "I get it, man," he said hoarsely. "It's shitty to admit to other people, let alone yourself, that your parent doesn't really want you."

Fred and Holden looked at each other as though seeing the other for the first time.

Velma glanced around at the others. Compared to all of the stories she was hearing, her childhood and family life had been a walk in the park. Indeed, the worst thing that had ever happened to her had been in ninth grade, after she and Tony had broken up and rumors started circulating that she was a lesbian. But she would feel dumb saying that now, after what everyone else had been sharing.

Through it all, Shaggy had been fighting with himself, trying to decide if this was the moment he wanted to share everything. Why this play was so hard for him. Why he didn't want to ask his parents to come see it. Scooby looked at him and immediately knew what he was wrestling with, in that way that only best friends do. They made eye contact, and Scooby nodded at Shaggy, giving him permission.

Shaggy took a deep breath. The time had come.

"When I was ten, my baby sister died," he said to the floor.

He felt each head swivel towards him.

"What?" Daphne said, her voice low with shock.

Scooby put his head on Shaggy's knee. Shaggy patted him absentmindedly as he spoke.

"Her name was Maggie," Shaggy murmured. "But I always called her Sugie. Like, for sugar. Because she was...so sweet."

No one said anything, just waited for him to continue.

"She was like, such a happy baby," he went on. "Everybody loved her. My mom especially was like, so thrilled. She'd always wanted a daughter. And I had like, all these ideas in my head that I was going to be the best older brother ever."

"How did she die?" asked Tony quietly.

Shaggy shrugged. "We like, have no idea," he whispered. "Neither did the doctors. It's a lot like what happens with Gabe in this play. In fact, that whole song, 'How Could I Ever Forget,' is like…almost exactly what happened to her. One day she just like, got really sick. My parents and I were wrecks." He lay a hand on Scooby's head. "Scooby Doo was like, my hero during that time. He was only a puppy, but he really helped me through that whole mess." He took a shaky breath. "The doctors didn't know what was wrong with her, so they ran some tests and told us they'd keep her overnight to like, observe her. We didn't even go home – we stayed in the lobby all night. And then like, in the middle of the night, she…" he broke off and swallowed. It was even harder to talk about this than he'd anticipated.

He took a deep breath before he started again. "My mother's like, a lot like Diana," he said. "She was a mess after Sugie died. She never…you know, like, tried anything. But we were worried she might. She started going to the doctor a lot, and she had a lot of like, what my dad called 'nervous episodes.' I remember once I was at Target with her, and she like, broke down in the middle of the store because we'd walked past the baby clothes." He shut his eyes at the memory. "I had to like, call my dad to come pick us up because she was making a scene."

Velma stared at him in disbelief. She couldn't believe what he was saying. Shaggy, her happy-go-lucky, fun-loving best friend, had such a dark and tragic past. And his poor parents! Knowing what she knew about rigid, structured, formal Mrs. Rogers, the scene from Target must have been terrifying for Shaggy and his dad. She couldn't even begin to imagine how Shaggy felt about any of it. Now though, she understood what Shaggy had meant when he'd told her that Scooby was more than just a dog to him. He had gotten Shaggy through the worst time of his life.

Velma stole a glance over at Daphne, whose tears were streaming freely down her face now. "Shag..." the redhead breathed, slipping away from Fred and coming over to embrace Shaggy in a comforting manner.

Shaggy returned the hug, still trying not to let his emotions get the best of him. "It's like, why we moved here," he said raggedly. "There were like, too many reminders in California, for all of us. So after six years, we packed up and left."

Velma put a hand on his arm, trying to be comforting, but not wanting to give them away. "I didn't know that's why you'd moved," she said in a whisper. Fred came over too and put one hand on Daphne's back and the other on Shaggy's shoulder.

Shaggy felt his friends around him and indeed, took comfort in the gesture. It had been hard to get out, but now that it was done, he realized how good it felt to say all this out loud. To finally tell his friends everything about it.

Tony, who had been crying through this whole story, clapped a hand on Shaggy's back. "I'm sorry about your sister, man," he said thickly.

Holden, too, moved towards Shaggy and enveloped him in his arms, wiping his eyes as he went.

Leesa, her face streaked with tears, was the final one to embrace the group, and they all huddled together in a silent cluster, with Shaggy and Scooby at the center.

x.X.x

By the time all the crying had stopped, it was just about time for rehearsal to end. Fred, Daphne, and Scooby went to get the Mystery Machine, while Tony hung out near the door to the parking lot, ready to get Shaggy and Velma in the practice room when the rest of the gang arrived.

In the practice room, Shaggy and Velma simply stood next to each other, leaning against the wall, saying nothing for a while.

"Shaggy..." Velma finally said when the silence became too great. "I'm so sorry. I had no idea..."

He shook his head. "There's like, no way you could have known, Velm," he said, shifting slightly to face her. "I didn't talk about it. I didn't _want _to talk about it."

She turned to look at him. "Did you want to talk about it today?"

Shaggy shrugged. "It like, felt good to get it off my chest," he conceded. "It's been hard to do this play in some ways."

Velma nodded. "I'm sure." Suddenly, a memory hit her. "The day of the interest meeting...when Daphne was telling us the plot for this show...you had gone quiet and I asked you if you were all right, and you said you were just thinking about the audition..." She blinked up at him. "Jinkies. You were thinking about your sister."

Shaggy nodded. "Yeah. Like, and my parents." He sighed and leaned against the wall again. "I'm like, not sure if I can ask them to come see this play, Velma," he admitted. "I'm afraid of like, what it's going to do to my mom."

Velma took his hand. "Do you talk about your sister much at home?"

Shaggy shook his head. "No. Like, never."

Velma sighed and squeezed his hand, moving to stand in front of him. "That can't be easy for you," she murmured.

Shaggy shook his head again. "No, it's like, really not. And today, I realized that I really _need _to talk about her. It's like, Diana needing to remember Gabe, but Dan not responding. It like, really messed me up as a kid, that we never talked about it."

"It would mess anybody up," Velma assured him, running her thumb across his knuckles.

"I was like, really angry after it happened," he told her. "And I like, folded in on myself, I guess. I slacked off, didn't do my homework, talked back to teachers when they tried to involve me in class. I like, got in a lot of fights at school for no reason. And then I met this guy Brannen Schultz in middle school, and he was like, always kind of bad news. But for some reason I gravitated towards him. When we got to high school, he started smoking weed and I always like, kinda resisted but then...when I found out that we were moving away, I figured like, 'what the hell, I'm already on this delinquent path with nothing more to lose,' and...I started too."

Shaggy had never actually said it out loud, that his sister's death had been the catalyst for his mild addiction all these years later. But it was true, and it was such a relief to admit it to someone else.

Velma said nothing. Just stood in front of him, watching him, and listening.

"I like, should have been in therapy after she died," he continued. Now he was on a roll. "Especially cuz I didn't have anyone to talk to except Scoob. And like Scooby Doo is great, but he _is _a dog. I needed to talk to like, humans. I needed to ask the big questions, like why did this happen to _my_ sister, and will my family ever come back from this, and...am I still a brother, if my only sibling is dead?"

Velma took in a shaky breath. She'd never seen Shaggy this vulnerable before.

Shaggy looked down at her cheerlessly. "I've like, never told anyone any of this," he confessed to her.

Velma let go of his hand and wrapped her arms around Shaggy's torso in the most comforting manner she could. "You can tell me anything, Shaggy," she whispered. "I hope that you're able to talk to your parents about this one day but until then, you can talk to me whenever you want, about whatever you want. I'll always be here for you."

Shaggy shut his eyes and embraced her as he felt his heart swell with adoration. "Like, you don't know what that means to me, Velma," he murmured in her ear.

Velma turned her head to the side to plant a soft, reassuring kiss on Shaggy's cheek. His face was turned towards her as well, and his lips landed on her jawbone in response. When their mouths met, it was in a warm, tender kiss that was all at once gentle and desirous. For the first time since they had begun their excursions to the practice room, there was more to their physical intimacy than just raw, animal passion. Something was different about this. There was a compassionate undertone to this kiss. All Velma wanted now was to be there for Shaggy, for him to know that she would comfort him when he needed it. She felt as though her heart had grown too large for her ribcage as they kissed tenderly.

All too soon, Tony knocked on the door. "You guys ready?" he called. "Your friends are here."

Shaggy reluctantly broke the kiss and sighed. "Like yeah, man," he called back, without letting go of Velma or looking away from her. "Tell them we'll be right there." But instead of going for the door, as he usually did, Shaggy kept Velma in his arms and kissed her again, deepening it with all the devotion and affection he had for her. Velma returned the kiss, and her knees went weak. The kiss went on and on, lingering until the feeling of it had spread from the pits of their stomachs to the bottoms of their toes, all the way back up to the tops of their heads, making them both feel dizzy. When it was over, Shaggy still didn't go for the door – rather, he closed his eyes, pulled Velma closer to him, and rested his forehead against hers.

"Thank you," he sighed.

"Anytime," she breathed back.

He was reluctant to let her go, but when he did, he first kissed her gently on the lips once more. Only then did he go for the door, and they walked out into the hallway together.

As she followed him out to the Mystery Machine, where Fred, Daphne, and Scooby waited, Velma realized why this afternoon's practice room meeting had been so different.

They had shared their feelings today, which had brought them even closer. Just as Leesa had said it would. But now, because of that, their relationship had changed. This was more than just a physical attraction, or even a crush.

Velma was falling in love with Shaggy.

_Oh, fuck._

* * *

**Sponge: Can you believe there are only four chapters left till the end? Hope you enjoyed this installment. Thank you for reading. Review if you please!**


	14. Why StayA Promise

**Sponge: Here's chapter 14! Warning: language, kissing, some gropage, and mild peril. Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Scooby Doo characters. They belong to Cartoon Network, Warner Brothers, and Hanna-Barbera. All lyrics to "Why Stay/A Promise" belong to Brian Yorkey. All dialogue in bold comes from the **_**Next to Normal **_**script.**

* * *

**Chapter 14: Why Stay/A Promise**

In her bedroom that evening, Velma paced and muttered to herself. She couldn't be falling in love with Shaggy. What had changed? Was it just because he'd opened up to her, shared his feelings, and told her about his tragic past? That was ridiculous. That was absurd. That was…

…Accurate.

She realized this and sat on her bed, stunned. Shaking herself, Velma relayed the facts in her head. She'd always had a crush on Shaggy. That much she admitted. And it had manifested itself into physical intimacies once they'd started meeting in the practice room. But if she was being honest with herself, deep down, she'd always known this had never been purely physical for her. Sure, it had been a big part of it. He was attractive and his touch was gentle, and his kisses were…

_No! Stop! s_he scolded herself. She couldn't think about that, it was too distracting. In any case, all of that was true, but he was more than just an attractive guy. He was funny. He was kind. He was even sort of smart, though obviously not the same caliber as she was. But still. Even though he wasn't necessarily her type, something about him had drawn Velma in from the beginning. And now that he'd let her in and told her about what happened to his sister – which Velma still couldn't quite believe – her feelings for him were intensifying.

She groaned and flumped backward onto her pillow. Nothing could ever come of this, she knew. Even if Shaggy felt something for her (though Velma doubted it would be anywhere near as intense as her feelings for him), he would always be too chicken to admit it. And even if he did feel the same way about her, they'd never make it public because Shaggy was too paranoid about what would happen if Scooby found out. Which, again, was insane.

_Besides, _she realized as her stomach twisted. _This has always had an expiration date. _Velma knew that they wouldn't be able to continue hooking up (finally, she could call it what it was) after the play closed. They would no longer have an excuse.

_Maybe it's better to just end things now, _Velma thought to herself sadly. _No point in putting off the inevitable. _Though it pained her to do it, she knew it was the right thing. It was the only way to protect her feelings. With a heavy heart, she resolved to put a stop to the practice room meetings with Shaggy tomorrow.

x.X.x

She nearly lost her resolve the next morning, when she, Fred, and Daphne stopped to pick Shaggy and Scooby up for school. She scooted over to make room for the two of them in the back and dropped her gaze from Shaggy's big brown eyes.

The day was agonizing for Velma. She argued with herself through every class, half of her brain trying to find a way around her decision, the other half trying to keep her on the straight and narrow. But the more she thought about it, the more she realized there was nothing she could do, as much as she tried to convince herself otherwise. At lunch, she tried to distract herself by bringing up Fred's theories about who the Phantom might be.

"I'm still a little suspicious of Holden," Fred admitted when she asked him about it. "But I think I was hasty in accusing him. We need more evidence. Like you said, it's possible that anyone who's working on the play is responsible."

"So let's talk about what we know already," said Daphne as she jabbed a green bean with her fork. "We know that the Phantom destroyed the girl's dressing room and wrote 'quit mystery freak' in lipstick on the mirror."

"And we know that she's probably after you," Velma added, glancing at her. "Based on the incident with the sandbag."

"Scoob's like, seen her three times," Shaggy continued. "Like once on the catwalk, once at homecoming, and once the day the dressing room was ransacked."

"Rand ro one relse ruz raround," Scooby finished. "Rye ruz ralways ralone."

"Well like, except that last time, when we both saw her," Shaggy reminded him.

Scooby nodded slowly. "Ris rhat reverything?"

Fred exhaled. "It's everything I can think of. But it's not much. We don't even have a motive. Why would someone want to sabotage the performance?"

Daphne sighed in response and hooked her arm through his. "We solved the mystery of the Wendigo in like a week," she said. "But this has taken us months. Why?"

"Because we're so distracted," Velma replied. "This play takes up a lot of our time with memorizing lines and rehearsing songs and bonding –" She stopped short as soon as she said the word, not daring to look at Shaggy.

But Daphne didn't seem to notice. "Well at least we know the play will be successful," she said, brow creased. "As long as the Phantom doesn't do something truly disruptive."

"We'll catch her before she tries," Fred promised, planting a firm kiss on Daphne's temple.

Again, Velma averted her eyes and avoided Shaggy's gaze. It was already hard enough knowing what she had to do. She was happy that Fred and Daphne weren't fighting anymore, but she didn't need them serving up hot and fresh Relationship Goals right in her face, taunting her with what she could never have with Shaggy.

At the end of the day, she waited in the practice room for him to arrive, running through some of Natalie's piano part for "Make Up Your Mind" to distract herself from what was sure to be a difficult conversation. The door opened, and she turned around to find Shaggy had arrived. He locked the door and took two steps towards the piano bench. Velma stood up.

"Like hey," he said softly. Velma's heart thundered in her chest cavity as he looked down into her face. She felt a subtle blush creep up her cheeks but remained focused on her task.

"Hey," she replied, distressed that her voice sounded just as gentle. _No, you __have__ to end this today, _she scolded herself. Even though she wanted nothing more than to stay in the practice room with him for hours, she couldn't give him that impression. It would only make it harder when she said what she needed to say. But before she could do anything, Shaggy wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in close. She tried not to breathe his scent too deeply while still appreciating the warm comfort of his embrace. _Jinkies, this is going to be a lot more difficult than I thought. _And she had always known it was going to be hard.

"I just wanted to say...like, thank you. Again," he murmured into her hair. "Yesterday was…I don't know. I hadn't expected it all to just like, come out like that. But I'm so glad I talked about it. I'm so glad I told you. It was like, really hard and scary to talk about, but you made it so much easier."

Velma listened to his soft words and felt her stomach twist in desire. He pulled away from her slightly to look into her eyes and tenderly brushed her bangs from her forehead. _Damn it, _Velma thought wildly. _If he kisses me now, I'm a goner._

Sure enough, he lowered his face and captured her mouth with his. The kiss was sweet and warm, and Velma's automatic response was to close her eyes and kiss him back. He was impossible to resist. She wanted him too badly. All thoughts of ending things flew from her mind.

She locked her arms around his neck as he gripped her passionately. One of his hands snuck up under her sweater and she gasped through the kiss at the contact of his fingers on her bare skin – a sound she couldn't help making. She twisted her fingers into the hair at the nape at his neck to pull his face even closer to hers. She felt him sigh into the kiss as he opened his mouth to her. While their tongues clashed, his hand snuck further up her body until it had arrived at her chest.

Fireworks shot off in Velma's brain as she pressed her back up against the wall under Shaggy's touch. A small kernel of a thought tried to nudge its way to the forefront, but it was lost in the haze of passion that currently occupied Velma's mind. All she wanted was Shaggy's body against hers. It was still true, what she'd said on Friday. When they were in here together, she didn't want to be anywhere else. Even though she knew it wasn't good for her heart in the long run.

At the moment this thought finally burst through, a knock at the door sounded. "It's Tony," came the voice that accompanied the knock. "Atwood's back. Time for rehearsal."

With a reluctant sigh, Shaggy broke the kiss and removed his hands from Velma. "All right, like, we're coming," he called back. He brought his face back down to hers for one last kiss before turning towards the door. "Like, you ready?"

Velma nodded. "Yeah," she replied, still a little breathless from the kissing. "Let's go." As she followed him to the auditorium, she fixed her jaw. Her desire for him had gotten the better of her this time. But she would officially put a stop to it after rehearsal today. She had to.

x.X.x

Meanwhile, Fred and Daphne were in the girl's dressing room, having a little private time of their own. They could hear the muted chatter of the drama kids onstage, but they were alone in the dressing room. Fred had told Daphne he had something important to tell her, so here they were, sitting on the couch.

"Listen, Daph," Fred said. "I've been thinking a lot about…why I've been acting this way. You know, over-protective and suspicious and jealous. And it's because…I've been feeling insecure."

Daphne furrowed her brow in confusion. What in the world could Fred Jones, golden boy, ever feel insecure about? "What do you mean?"

Fred took one of Daphne's hands. "I've been thinking a lot about us."

Daphne's breath caught in her throat and she felt her chest tighten with anxiety. Was this…a break-up? No. No, it couldn't be. She hadn't told him she loved him yet! "What exactly have you been thinking?" Daphne was glad that her voice didn't betray her panic.

"Well, that's not exactly true," Fred admitted. "Mostly, I've been thinking about my dad."

Daphne was confused again. "I don't understand."

Fred sighed and took Daphne's other hand. "Do you remember what I said yesterday, when we had our full-cast bonding? About…what happened with my mother?"

How could she forget? Daphne's heart had broken for Fred that afternoon. The image of tears in his eyes would be burned in her memory forever. "Of course," she replied softly.

Fred took a deep breath, apparently steeling himself for a difficult confession. "I've always had a fear that the people I love will all leave me one day," he told her. "I didn't even realize I felt that way until I was thirteen and found that letter my mom sent to my dad. I mean…if my own mother could leave me behind like that, what was stopping my dad? My friends?" He exhaled and looked into Daphne's eyes. "It even happens in this play. Diana leaves Dan at the end. Just like my mom left my dad. Just like she left me." He shook his head. "You and the gang are the most important people in my life. And when Shaggy's dad said that thing at the end of the summer, about how one day we'll all go our separate ways…I started to panic." He swallowed. "I don't want anyone in the gang to separate, but I'm terrified of losing you the most."

Daphne blinked back tears. Remembering how annoyed and angry she'd been with him just last week made her stomach twist in regret. Of course he was committed to this play. Of course he was committed to her. He was so committed that his biggest fear was her leaving him. How could she have ever doubted his feelings? Or hers? She felt herself falling in love with him all over again. "Fred Jones," she whispered. "How could you think that I would ever leave you?" She threw her arms around his neck and cradled his head against her shoulder. "I'm not going anywhere, Freddie," she promised. "You'll never have to worry about losing me. I'm your girl. And I'll stay by your side as long as you want me there."

Fred wrapped his own arms around Daphne and gripped the back of her dress. Then he moved his head upward to kiss her jawbone. She shifted so he could reach her lips, and they kissed for a long time.

As their lips moved together, Daphne had a realization. This was it. This was the moment. _I have to tell him I love him now._

Daphne broke the kiss and looked Fred full in the face. "Freddie," she whispered. "I…"

"Rister Ratwood's rack! Rit's rime ror rehearsal!" Scooby barked, barging into the girl's dressing room. When he caught the position Fred and Daphne were in, he eyed them suspiciously. "Really roo ruys?"

Embarrassment colored their cheeks as they stood up and followed Scooby out to the stage.

x.X.x

Mr. Atwood had indeed returned, and he was full of announcements.

"All right everyone, shut the hell up," he said as he bounded onstage, where the cast had all gathered. The orchestra were tuning their instruments in the pit, while the crew members hung out in the booth or the wings.

"First things first," said Mr. Atwood. "I'm feeling a bit better. Thank you to Beamer for keeping the ball rolling while I was away."

Leesa flashed a light from the booth to indicate she accepted the praise.

Mr. Atwood continued. "I'm eager to get back to work. Now who can tell me what Thursday is?"

"Ralloween?" said Scooby, who was sitting at his ASM desk with his headphones affixed.

The cast chuckled and Mr. Atwood did too.

"Very funny, Scooby. Yes, technically that's correct. Thursday is Halloween. But it's also the official beginning of what we in the theater like to call 'tech week.'"

"You mean 'hell week,'" Holden quipped. Daphne and the other drama kids snickered again.

"Tech week is the term for the week before the show opens," Daphne explained to the gang.

"I'm kinda nervous to ask about where the 'hell' part comes from," Tony remarked.

"It's just because there's so much work involved," Daphne replied.

"More than we're already doing?" Fred asked.

Holden shook his head good-humoredly. "Can you believe it? Like we're not already working like dogs."

"Rey!" Scooby exclaimed from his desk.

More laughter.

"And all your hard work is paying off," Mr. Atwood said. "The show is nearly fully blocked, almost all the cues are finished, and we'll be ready to start dress rehearsals next week, just in time for opening night next Friday." Mr. Atwood clapped his hands together. "Let's get to work."

They worked steadily for the rest of the afternoon, and made a lot of progress. Even Fred made great strides, and only needed to look at his script and call for line a few times. By the end of rehearsal, everyone was feeling good. Everyone except for Velma, who felt her resolve weakening again as she followed Shaggy down the hall to their practice room.

_Maybe if I can get the words out as soon as the door closes, before…anything else happens, _she thought to herself.

Of course, this didn't pan out. Velma was the one who closed the door and as soon as she did, Shaggy pushed her up against it, locked it, and cupped her face in his hands to bring her lips to his.

Velma's head spun as they kissed. It was impossible. How could she end this? How could she say no to the feel of Shaggy's warm embrace, or his gentle mouth on her skin? How could she stop her voice from gasping his name as he moved his head down to kiss her earlobe, her jawline, her neck? How could she say no to his hand on her breast or possibly even between her legs again one day? How could she stop her own fingers from traveling down his body to touch him, knowing the reaction he would have? She'd never been the source of so much pleasure for one person. And he was so hard to resist.

Resist.

That's what she was supposed to be doing. What she had to do. She had to end this now, before she was so far gone there was no coming back. Her resolve had returned.

"Shaggy," she murmured, agonized that her voice sounded so full of desire. "We have to stop."

To his credit, Shaggy removed his hands from her immediately and took a slight step back. "Like what's the matter?" he asked, full of concern. "Did I do something wrong?"

Velma shook her head incredulously. After everything they'd done in here these past few months, how could he possibly think he was doing something wrong? "No," she told him. "I mean...we have to stop meeting here." Her heart and body screamed in protest as the words left her mouth, but she ignored them.

Shaggy's concerned expression changed to a confused one. "Like why? It's helping our performance so much."

"That's why," Velma replied. "We only started doing this when we were cast in the play. And…I won't lie. It's been great. More than great. But Shaggy...the show's almost over. We open a week from Friday. And then we'll have no more excuses to meet in here. We have to stop eventually." She shrugged. "It might as well be now."

Shaggy furrowed his brow. "But like...if we have to stop at some point, doesn't that mean we should keep doing this as long as we can?"

Velma splayed out her hands. "Listen," she said, looking him in the eye. "I meant what I said on Friday. I don't want to stop. I really don't. But I think we have to." Her skin tingled in the places where his lips had touched her, as though burning to remind her of everything she was giving up. She took a deep breath and kept on. "We've come so far from that first rehearsal, I don't think our performance will suffer. Besides," she continued, thinking of the conversation they'd had at lunch. "Once we're not distracted by meeting in here anymore, we can focus on something real, like figuring out who the Phantom actually is."

Shaggy looked taken aback, and Velma wondered what she'd said wrong. She found out in moments.

"Like, 'focus on something real?'" Shaggy repeated, staring at her in faint disbelief. His voice sounded vaguely hurt as he said, "Is this...like, not real to you?"

Velma's heart thudded again. "Is it real to you?" she murmured, stepping closer to him. Her pulse quickened. Was there a chance they wouldn't have to stop hooking up after all? Shaggy looked down into her eyes, but said nothing. "Shaggy," Velma said, gathering the gall to ask him the question she'd been wanting to ask for weeks. "Is there something more to this for you than just getting our chemistry up for the play?" When he still didn't respond, she grabbed his hands. "Tell me the truth. Please."

Shaggy swallowed, blinked, and remained silent.

Velma sighed, shoulders slumped, and felt as though her heart had been wrung out. Shaggy was never going to admit if he had feelings for her. She had to accept that. This was the reason she had to end it. Unable to resist one last time though, she stood on her toes to give him a soft kiss on the cheek. A goodbye kiss. "I'll see you in the Mystery Machine, Shag." With that, she let go of his hands and turned to let herself out of the practice room.

x.X.x

Two days later it was Halloween, and the show was ready for its first full run-through. They had made it through the first act with no major issues – and Fred hadn't needed to call for line once. This was a small miracle.

"Freddie!" Daphne exclaimed when they broke for 'intermission.' "You're doing so great! I'm so proud of you." They were standing in the stage right wings, near the lumber room and Scooby's ASM desk. Mr. Atwood, who still seemed ill, had left the auditorium after the last number of Act I, so Scooby was listening intently to Leesa on his headset as she was giving directions now.

Fred shrugged. "Now that I'm less focused on trying to prove Holden guilty, I have more space in my brain for my lines." He grinned at her and she grinned back.

"I know this hasn't been easy on you," she said, touching his arm. "But you've come so far. And it means so much that you're trying so hard. For me."

Fred looked at her tenderly. "I'd do anything for you, Daphne," he told her, bringing her close for a kiss.

"Ra-hem," coughed Scooby loudly from his desk. Apparently he had finished his conversation with Leesa.

Fred and Daphne both blushed.

Shaggy watched this happen from the open door of the boy's dressing room, where Holden was pulling on parts of his anesthesiologist costume for the beginning of Act II. It wasn't a full dress rehearsal, but the actors were working with as many costume pieces as possible today.

"I always liked dressing up on Halloween," Holden said as he adjusted his surgical cap. "I went as a butterfly one year, when I was nine, I think. I can't believe no one realized then that I was gay. Not that butterflies are effeminate, or that only gay boys can like butterflies." He laughed.

Shaggy said nothing.

Holden turned from the mirror and faced him. "All right, Rogers. What's with you?"

Shaggy blinked and focused back on Holden. "Like, huh?"

Holden crossed his arms. "You've been so out of it for the past two days. I mean, your performance has been fine, but offstage it's like your head's in the clouds. What's going on?"

Shaggy just stared at him. "Like, I don't know," he replied. "I'm fine."

This wasn't true. He'd been feeling down ever since Velma had put a stop to their meetings. Like an idiot, he'd stopped by the practice room both yesterday and today after school to see if she'd changed her mind, but she hadn't been in there either time. What had changed? She'd said she hadn't wanted to stop the meetings. So why had she? There had to be more to it than what she'd said on Tuesday.

And he couldn't even ask anybody for advice. Usually when he had a problem he talked to Scooby, but Scooby could never find out about Velma. And no one else in the gang knew.

_But Tony knows. _

Shaggy considered this for a full five seconds before realizing how utterly ridiculous it would be if he went to Velma's ex-boyfriend for romantic advice about her. He was just going to have to suffer in silence. Alone.

On the other side of the stage, in the girl's dressing room, Velma was getting ready for her first scene of the second act, at the club with Henry. She had on a red party dress and black leggings. While she'd never wear anything like it in real life, she was more comfortable in this dress than the one she had to wear near the end of the play – a strapless, rather formal tea-length dress for the spring dance scene. The only person who had seen the dress besides Velma was Harmony, who was adamant that the costume be kept a secret until dress rehearsals began, lest there be another "Phantom" situation. Luckily the costume department had been able to successfully fix Holden's tuxedo, but Harmony didn't want to take any chances if the Phantom decided to truly destroy a costume.

There was a knock on the door. "Dinks, you in there? Can I come in?" It was Tony.

Velma looked at herself in the mirror and sighed. "Yeah, sure," she called. Tony let himself in. "Nice lab coat," Velma said, when she saw that he was wearing his costume for Doctor Madden.

"Nice dress," he replied, quirking an eyebrow.

Velma rolled her eyes. "At least this one has straps." She pulled her baggy orange sweater over her head and felt much more comfortable. "What's up?"

Tony closed the door and looked at her seriously. "Are you okay?"

Velma blinked at him. "What do you mean?"

Tony shrugged. "I noticed that you and Rogers haven't been ah…meeting up lately."

Velma blushed. "That's none of your business, Tony."

He held up his hands. "I just wanna know why. It seemed like it was what you wanted. Did he push the brakes?"

Velma sighed. "No. I did."

Tony furrowed his brow. "How come?"

Velma sat on the couch and looked at the floor. In a whisper, she said, "Because I like him, Tony." It was the first time she'd ever said it out loud. She hadn't even admitted this to Daphne. "It's going to come to an end as soon as the play is over. It'll be better for me in the long run if I put a stop to it now."

Tony sat beside her. "Why does it have to come to an end?"

"Because he doesn't feel the same way about me."

Tony stared at her dubiously. "Come on," he said, incredulity coloring his tone. "You and I both know that's not true."

"Well, he's never going to admit it," Velma grumbled. "He's too worried about what Scooby'll think."

Tony seemed confused. "But…Scooby's a dog."

"Exactly." Velma sighed. "It's just not going to happen, Tony. It'll be better once this is all over and we can go back to just being friends."

Tony shook his head. "I don't know if that'll be as easy as you think it will, Dinks."

Velma snorted. "Why not? You and I did it no problem."

"Yeah," Tony relented. "But you and I never…you know, met in a practice room. Every day. For months." Tony turned slightly red, and so did Velma as she remembered the humiliation she'd felt the day Tony had caught them.

Tony cleared his throat to break the awkward silence. "You want me to talk to him?"

Velma laughed out loud. "Are you kidding? That wouldn't help at all."

"How come?"

"Because Shaggy's jealous of you."

Now it was Tony's turn to laugh. "Jealous of me? Why? Because I used to go out with you?"

Velma shrugged. "I guess. He's never said as much, but I kind of got that impression at homecoming."

Leesa Beamer's voice came through the speakers in the dressing room. "Quick cast meeting before we begin Act II. Everyone come out to the stage please!"

Velma pressed the intercom button so she could speak back to the booth where Leesa sat. "On the way," she replied with a sigh. She turned back to Tony. "We should go."

They both stood up from the couch and headed onstage. The rest of the cast were arriving as well. Velma noticed, with some satisfaction, that Shaggy had a small scowl on his face when he saw her entering with Tony. Tony noticed too, and shook his head subtly at Velma. "I'm your friend, Dinks, but I wanna be his friend too," he muttered out of the corner of his mouth. "Don't put me in the middle."

Velma sighed. "You're kind of already there," she murmured back. "You're the only one who knew about us."

"Okay actors," said Leesa's voice amplified over the microphone. "Mr. Atwood's stomach bug apparently hasn't completely gone away, and he went home again. So we'll be finishing the show without him. Places for the top of Act II, please."

Act II went quite smoothly. Everyone sounded great and the acting was excellent. Fred remembered all of his lines, and Daphne was able to dig into the sad stories they'd heard on Monday for the correct emotional response in "How Could I Ever Forget?"

"**He was a baby when he died," **she murmured, blinking back tears at the end of the song. **"But I remember him…older."**

Fred/Dan shook his head. **"No. He was a baby." **He paused. **"We should call Doctor Madden."**

The music started up from the pit, quick and a little chaotic.

Daphne/Diana stared at him. **"Why would we call Doctor Madden? I'm just trying to make sense of this. God – what was his name? I don't remember ever hearing you say his name. Why is that?"**

Fred/Dan: **"Diana."**

Daphne/Diana: **"What was his name? Tell me."**

The music caught up with the dialogue, and Fred/Dan began to sing.

"_It's gonna be fine._

_It's gonna be fine._

_Gonna go back to the doctor,_

_Cause we caught it just in time._

_We'll take the pills and pay the bills,"_

Daphne/Diana interrupted. **"His name..."**

Fred/Dan continued. _"We'll do more ECT…"_

Daphne/Diana: **"Our son."**

Fred/Dan: _"It's gonna be good you'll see."_

Daphne/Diana: **"What was his name?"**

Fred/Dan: _"It's gonna be good you'll see."_

Daphne/Diana: **"What. Was. His. Name?"**

Shaggy/Henry entered, wearing a tuxedo jacket, but not the full ensemble. Velma/Natalie appeared at the top of the stairs on the set, wearing a formal coat, but not her dress.

Fred/Dan and Daphne/Diana continued, oblivious to them both. Daphne/Diana repeated **"What was his name?" **over and over again while Fred/Dan kept insisting _"It's gonna be good," _until he grabbed the music box from her and dashed it on the ground, where it made a loud crash.

Velma/Natalie gasped. **"Jesus, Dad!"**

She looked at Shaggy/Henry for a millisecond. Embarrassed at the scene her parents had caused, she fled back into the bedroom. Without hesitation, Shaggy/Henry ascended the stairs and followed her.

"**Natalie!" **cried Fred/Dan.

A new song began.

"_Why stay?" _sang Daphne/Diana.

"_Why stay?_

_So steadfast and stolid_

_And stoic and solid_

_For day after every day…_

_Why stay?_

_Why stay?_

_Why not simply give in_

_And get on with livin'_

_Cause everyone knows you tried,_

_But somehow something died_

_On the way._

_So tell me why you stay."_

Lights came up on Velma/Natalie's bedroom for a split scene. Shaggy/Henry gently opened the door and Velma/Natalie turned to confront him.

"_Why stay?" _both girls sang.

"_Why stay?_

_Enduring and coping_

_And hurting and hoping_

_For day after fucking day – _

_Why stay?_

_Why stay?_

_Why not simply end it?_

_We'd all comprehend it_

_And most of the world would say,_

'_He's better off that way_

_To be free…_

_And maybe so his she.'"_

Shaggy's heart stuttered, astonished at how the song pertained to his current situation. Was this why Velma didn't want to meet in the practice room anymore? Because she thought they were better off without each other? That was a depressing thought.

He glanced out of the corner of his eye at Fred, who looked Daphne in the eyes and sang to her.

"_A promise, _

_A boy says forever,_

_A boy says…"_

Shaggy took Velma's shoulders and sang the next lines with Fred.

"_Whatever may come we'll come through._

_And who can know how_

_When all I know now _

_To be true_

_Is this promise that I make to you."_

As he sang, Shaggy saw a flicker of something in Velma's eyes. Longing? Regret? This song was making her feel something.

Fred/Dan kept going.

"_A question_

_A boy wonders whether,"_

Shaggy/Henry echoed. _"A boy wonders should I stay?"_

Fred/Dan: _"The two stay together_

_The way that they stay._

_For year after year_

_For love or from fear,"_

Both: _"Either way,"_

Fred/Dan: _"That's the promise that I made that day."_

Shaggy/Henry: _"Here's what I say,"_

Both: _"To the girl who was burning so brightly_

_Like the light from Orion above."_

Fred/Dan: _"And still I will search for her nightly,_

_If you see her, please send her my love._

_And the boy was a boy for all seasons,"_

Shaggy/Henry: _"The boy is long lost."_

Fred/Dan: _"That boy is long lost to me now."_

Shaggy/Henry: _"So lost."_

Fred/Dan: _"And the man has,"_

Both: _"Forgotten his reasons,"_

Fred/Dan: _"But the man still remembers his vow."_

Shaggy/Henry pulled Velma/Natalie to him in a soft embrace as he sang, _"Now…"_

Velma's heart was in her throat. What she wouldn't give for Shaggy to actually use these words, not as part of a scripted play, but for real. She shut her eyes against his chest, wishing she could just turn off her feelings.

Fred, for his part, had completely abandoned his character. He and Daphne had come away from their argument in the costume loft a stronger couple, but he needed her to know how much he cared for her. How committed he was to her. This was not Dan singing to Diana. This was Fred singing to Daphne. It always had been.

Fred took Daphne's hands, looked into her eyes, and started the last part of the song.

"_A promise,_

_A man says forever._

_A man says, I'll never regret or let you,_

_The promise I made_

_To stay, and I stayed true…"_

He tucked a strand of hair behind Daphne's ear and let his hand linger on her cheek. Daphne felt her heart skip a beat.

"_Knowing one day we'd remember that joy,_

_You'd remember that girl, I'd remember that boy,"_

Now he took both her hands again. _"Til we do,_

_The promise I made,_

_I'll make it brand new –_

_The promise that I made to you."_

Fred and Daphne were still. Shaggy held Velma to him.

Two couples.

And then Holden.

The music changed.

"_I am more than memory," _Holden/Gabe sang, as he emerged from fog via the stage right wings.

"_I am what might be, I am mystery._

_Come closer…"_

Daphne/Diana noticed him and let go of Fred/Dan's hands. She took a step back.

"**Dan," **she murmured.

"_Come closer." _Holden/Gabe began to approach her as Fred/Dan watched her back away.

"**Diana, there's nothing there," **he said.

A movement from above caught Velma's eye. Her face was still half-buried in Shaggy's chest but she turned slightly to try to figure out what it was.

Oblivious to the movement in the fly space, Holden continued. _"I'm as old as time and forever young,_

_I am every song that will stay unsung,_

_I'll find you."_

"**Oh no," **Daphne/Diana whispered, continuing to back away.

"**God**_**damn **_**it," **Fred muttered, watching the space where Holden/Gabe stood without seeing him. Daphne/Diana took another step back.

"_Remind you," _Holden/Gabe continued, gazing at Daphne/Diana.

Velma gasped as she realized that the movement above her was something descending from the fly space.

Or rather…some_one._

"Shaggy," she said, breaking away from him and pointing. The figure wore a white lace dress and had black stringy hair.

It was the Phantom of the Auditorium.

And she was landing right in Daphne's path.

Holden noticed a split second after Velma did. "Daphne, look out!" he cried.

Daphne whirled around and found herself face-to face with the Phantom. She screamed and tripped forward in shock. The Phantom caught her.

Fred reached for Daphne but, to everyone's horror, the Phantom began to soar back up into the fly space, taking Daphne with her.

"Daphne!" cried everyone on stage.

And then the lights went out.

* * *

**Sponge: Sorry for the cliff-hanger. Thanks for reading. Come back next week and review if you please!**


	15. The Break

**Sponge: Were you worried I was gonna do that thing I did with **_**One For The Money **_**where I left you on a cliffhanger for eight years between chapters 14 and 15? Well, I'm back! Thanks for your patience - and also for the kind and thoughtful reviews I've received! (Lookin' at you, Anonymous Ava and iamacliche. You da real MVPs). Here's chapter 15 of **_**Two For The Show**_**! Warnings: language, mild peril, and a little bit of kissing. Enjoy! Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Scooby-Doo characters. They belong to Cartoon Network, Warner Brothers, and Hanna-Barbera.**

* * *

**Chapter 15: The Break**

Chaos descended in the darkness. The members of the pit orchestra screamed. The stagehands and the techies fumbled in the wings. The lighting and sound technicians scrambled to restore order. Everyone called out to each other.

"Daphne!"

"Rhaggy!"

"Scooby Doo!"

"Dinks!"

"Ouch!"

Moments later, Travis Brown finally reset the controls, and the lights came up. Scooby and Tony had rushed onstage from the wings, only to both trip over Holden and Fred in the darkness. Everyone got up and sorted themselves out. Shaggy and Velma had clutched each other in fright, and they awkwardly disentangled when the lights came on.

Fred stared up into the fly space. "They're gone," he breathed. The others followed his gaze. There was no sign of the Phantom or Daphne. The stage crew, pit orchestra, and heads of tech all came up to the stage and peer up into the fly space as well. Scooby glanced at the people who had gathered. Somebody was missing - somebody besides Daphne - but he couldn't put his paw on who. His brain was still too scrambled from what had just happened.

Velma descended the stairs from the platform to the stage. Shaggy followed her cautiously. "Well they have to have gone somewhere," she pointed out, shedding her formal coat to reveal her turtleneck. "They can't have just disappeared."

Holden shook his head. "There's nothing up there," he said. "Just the pulleys and ropes." He exhaled. "I always thought the Phantom was a myth…but that was an actual ghost."

It was Velma's turn to shake her head. "If it was a ghost, how could it have grabbed Daphne?" she pointed out. "Ghosts aren't corporeal. Or real."

"Well like, _something _took Daphne," Shaggy stated frantically. He and Scooby stood beside each other, trembling in fear.

"We've got to find her," Fred declared. His mind and heart were racing. This had never happened before. Sure, Daphne had fallen through the odd trap door or accidentally gotten stuck in a secret room. But this was the first time she'd ever been _kidnapped._ What was the Phantom going to do to her? Was she as terrified as he felt? Fred had never been more scared in his life. _Is this how Shaggy and Scooby feel all the time? _"We've got to find her," he repeated.

"I agree," said Holden. "But how? I'm telling you, the only way to get into the fly space is with the cherry picker, and only Mr. Atwood has the keys."

"Don't worry about that," Fred told him. "I have a plan."

"What can we do to help?" asked Tony as Shaggy removed his tuxedo jacket.

"Get everyone out of the auditorium," Fred replied. "We're the ones the Phantom wants. We can handle this."

"Should we call the sheriff?" asked a stagehand.

Fred shook his head. Mystery Inc. did not have a very good rapport with Sheriff Stone. "Not unless we tell you to," he said.

Holden and Tony rounded up everyone and escorted them out of the auditorium. Soon, just Fred, Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby were left alone on the stage.

"All right Fred, what's the plan?" asked Velma.

"Well...I don't exactly have one," Fred admitted. "I just needed everyone else out of the theater. I have an idea for a trap, but it doesn't help if Daphne's still missing. I just want her safe."

"We all do, Fred," Velma replied. "But we need a plan to find her."

"Ro roo rave ra ran?" asked Scooby.

"Sort of," said Velma. "When props or costumes went missing, they always ended up in the upstairs lofts. Maybe the 'Phantom' left some other clues lying around in there before she snatched Daphne. I think our best chance of finding her will be in the costume or wood loft." She looked at Fred. "Should we split up?"

Shaggy stared at her incredulously. "Uh…like, NO," he replied, while Scooby shook his head vehemently.

"Actually, we should," said Fred. "That's a good idea, Velma. How about you and I go through the wood loft and Shaggy and Scooby search the costume loft? We'll meet on the catwalk when we're done."

"Rar roo razy?!" Scooby gasped.

"The catwalk is like, the first place Scoob saw the ghost!" Shaggy cried.

"Which is why we'll go there together," said Fred.

Scooby whined fearfully.

"Hold on," Velma said, heading for the girl's dressing room. She reappeared a moment later with a box of Scooby Snacks. "Okay guys," she said. "Will you go up to the costume loft for a Scooby Snack?"

Shaggy and Scooby glanced at each other. It had been awhile since Velma had needed to bribe them with Scooby Snacks. "Rokay," said Scooby, who opened his mouth and obediently waited for Velma to toss one in. She did, and he snatched it up, smacking his lips.

Shaggy and Velma made eye contact. Without moving towards him, Velma tossed a snack Shaggy's way. He caught and ate it quickly, and they both looked away.

Neither Fred nor Scooby noticed the awkwardness of the exchange. "All right gang," Fred said once Shaggy and Scooby had finished chewing. "Let's split up and search for clues."

Fred and Velma went towards stage right, Shaggy and Scooby went towards stage left.

"So like, I guess Holden is innocent after all, huh?" said Shaggy as he and Scooby ascended the stairs to the costume loft. "He was like, right there when Daphne..." He couldn't finish the sentence. It was too horrible.

"Rye ron't runderstand," Scooby sighed. "Roo rould rant ro rurt Raphne?"

Shaggy shrugged. "Like, I don't know, buddy," he replied. They had reached the door to the costume loft and opened it. Shaggy had to admit – the senior drama students had done a good job. It was a lot more organized than it had been the first time that Daphne had brought them here.

"All right, Scooby Doo," Shaggy said. "Like, use that nose of yours. See if you can sniff out anything suspicious." Hopefully if they found a clue quickly they could get out of there sooner.

"Rokay," said Scooby. He put his nose to the ground and set to work. Shaggy followed him, keeping his eyes open for anything that seemed out of the ordinary. But so far everything seemed normal.

"Rhere did Red rand Raphne rind rhe ruxedo?" asked Scooby.

Shaggy thought back. "Uhh…like I think they said they found it under the cushions in the couch."

Scooby sniffed the green couch and Shaggy began removing the cushions.

"Like nothing here…wait!" Shaggy plucked something off one of the cushions. "Like, what's this?" He and Scooby inspected it closer.

"Ris it…rair?" asked Scooby.

It _was_ hair. A piece of hair so blond it looked white.

"Ris it Reddie's?" asked Scooby. "Re's rond. Rand re ruz rere…recently."

Shaggy shook his head. "Like, I don't think it's Freddie's. This hair is too long. It must belong to a girl." He furrowed his brow. "But like, it can't belong to the Phantom. She has black hair. And no one on Harmony's costume committee is a blonde."

Scooby scrutinized the hair. There was something familiar about it. Suddenly, he recognized the scent, and figured out who had been missing after Daphne was taken. "Rhaggy," he whispered as realization hit him. "Rye roe roo rhe Rhantom ris."

_THUMP THUMP THUMP_

Shaggy and Scooby screamed at the sudden noise.

"ZOINKS!" Shaggy yelled.

"RIKES!" Scooby shrieked. He jumped into Shaggy's arms in fright, before they both realized that the thumping was coming from the wall behind the couch. And it was accompanied by muffled, yet very familiar sounding, calls for help.

Shaggy set Scooby down and cautiously pressed his ear to the wall. "Like…hello?" he called, feeling like an idiot.

"Shaggy? Scooby?" came the voice from the other side.

Shaggy and Scooby looked at each other in alarm.

"Rit's Raphne!" Scooby realized. He and Shaggy quickly pushed the couch away from the wall.

"Like, Daph!" Shaggy called through the wall. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," came Daphne's disembodied voice from the other side of the wall. "But I'm trapped. The Phantom closed the latch from the outside."

Shaggy suddenly remembered the day Daphne had taken them on a tour of the costume loft the day the cast list went up, and realized that she was locked in the secret shoe room. "Like, Scoob and me are gonna get you out of there, all right?" he called back to her.

Scooby used one of his paws to lift the latch on the bottom of the panel. The wall opened so the whole panel came away like a door. Daphne was sitting in the pile of shoes, looking disgruntled, but otherwise okay.

"Boy, am I glad to see you," she said as they helped her out of the room.

"Rar roo rokay?" asked Scooby.

"I'm fine," Daphne said. "I'm not hurt or anything. Where are Freddie and Velma?"

"They're in the wood loft," Shaggy said. "We split up to like, try to find some clues."

"Well I've got a big one," Daphne said. She opened her fist to reveal a tube of lipstick. "This fell out of the Phantom's pocket when she grabbed me, and I hid it from her while she pushed me into that room."

Shaggy furrowed his brow. "Like what kind of ghost has a pocket?"

"A human who's pretending to be a ghost," Daphne replied. "Let's go find Freddie and Velma."

She started to make her way towards the door to the catwalk, but Shaggy and Scooby dawdled.

"What are you waiting for?" Daphne asked when she noticed they weren't following her.

"Um…" Shaggy hedged. "What if like…the Phantom is there?"

"She won't be," Daphne told them. "She's hiding in the fly space, I'm sure of it. We'll run across and she won't even know we left the costume loft. She can't even see the catwalk from the fly space - just the stage."

Shaggy and Scooby still didn't budge.

Daphne sighed exasperatedly. "Fine then. I'll go find Fred and Velma. You two stay here by yourselves."

Shaggy and Scooby glanced at each other.

"Ron recond rought…" Scooby muttered, moving to follow Daphne.

The three of them quickly raced across the catwalk and reunited with Fred and Velma in the wood loft.

"Daphne!" Fred exclaimed when he saw her enter with Shaggy and Scooby in tow. They rushed to each other and embraced while Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby looked on awkwardly.

"I thought I'd lost you," Fred murmured into her hair.

"I told you," Daphne whispered back. "You'll never lose me." She loosened her grip slightly. "Besides, I don't think I was actually in any danger."

"What do you mean?" asked Velma. "You were kidnapped."

"Honestly, I think the Phantom panicked," Daphne replied, turning to her. "After I found this," she produced the lipstick, "I have a pretty good hunch about who it might be."

"Scooby thinks he knows too," Shaggy said. "We like, found a long blond hair on the couch in the costume loft."

Fred knit his brow in confusion. "But the Phantom's not blond."

"No," Velma realized. "But the person pretending to be her is."

Fred shook his head. "It can't be Holden. He was right there when Daphne was taken."

"Holden's not the only blond person involved in the production," Velma told him.

Fred's brow furrowed deeper. "Me?" he asked.

Everyone just rolled their eyes and waited for him to catch up.

"Oh. OH!" Fred exclaimed once realization hit him. "Oh my God."

"I know," said Velma.

"Rut rhould re ro row?" asked Scooby.

Fred now looked resolute. "Catch her," he said decisively. "I think it's time to put that trap I mentioned into motion..."

x.X.x

"Rye ron't rike rhis," Scooby grumbled, fixing his wig.

"I don't like this either, Scoob," Shaggy replied, pulling on a wig of his own. They were back in the costume loft, where Fred had found some clothing and other accessories that they could use as Daphne disguises. Shaggy and Scooby were in the process of dressing up as her. This was not the first time they'd been used as bait, but it was the first time they'd ever had to dress up as someone else in the gang.

"Like tell me again why Scoob and me have to dress up like Daphne when Daphne already looks like Daphne?" Shaggy asked Fred for the umpteenth time since the plan had been explained.

"Because we can't risk putting her in danger," Fred told him, also not for the first time.

Daphne rolled her eyes. "As I said before," she said. "I can take care of myself."

"And as _I _said before," Fred replied. "I don't want to risk it anyway. You're too valuable."

"Rhanks a rot," Scooby grumbled.

"Yeah like what are we? Chopped liver?" Shaggy replied. But he understood. He didn't really want to put Daphne in harms' way again either. And he certainly wouldn't ever want to use Velma as bait if someone was after her.

Velma herself arrived just then from the catwalk. "I just checked the trap," she told Fred. "I think we're all set."

"Great," Fred replied. He clapped Shaggy on the back. "You ready?"

"Like, no," Shaggy sighed. "But we'll do it."

"Awesome. Remember: Velma, Daphne and I will be on the catwalk. We'll be able to see everything that's happening onstage. All you guys have to do is distract the Phantom."

"This'll all be over soon," Daphne promised them. "And then we can get to the bottom of this."

Velma approached them both. "Don't worry," she said. "You're not in any danger. She can't hurt you. She's just a person."

"Yeah and like, I've never been hurt by a person before," Shaggy retorted.

Velma blinked at him. Shaggy wished he could swallow his words.

"Ready?" Scooby asked.

Shaggy turned to him. "Like, yep," he replied. "Let's go, buddy."

They left for the stage while Fred, Daphne, and Velma waited near the costume loft end of the catwalk.

As Fred had predicted, it didn't take long for the Phantom to appear. The bright red wigs Shaggy and Scooby wore made them stand out from the fly space where, Daphne had correctly guessed, the Phantom was waiting.

"Rover rere!" Scooby called, running towards stage right. The Phantom flew over him.

"Like no, over here!" Shaggy yelled from stage left. The Phantom whirled around, confused.

"Velma, now!" came Fred's voice from above. Velma turned on a spotlight and shined it right in the Phantom's face.

"Aagghh!" she cried, raising her arm to shield her eyes from the brightness.

The light also illuminated something that Shaggy hadn't noticed before.

"Like, hey," he said aloud. "She's connected to wires." _That's like, how she's been flying!_

Fred raced to wood loft side of the catwalk and grabbed the rope that controlled the wires, now that they could see how they were attached, and pulled the Phantom up towards the catwalk.

Once the Phantom was close enough, Daphne grabbed a loose rope and lassoed it around the Phantom, pinning her arms to her sides.

"We got her!" Fred exclaimed, accidentally letting go of the rope in his glee. Upon doing so, the Phantom plummeted down. And since she was still holding her rope, Daphne fell over the railing of the catwalk and came with her. She screamed as she tumbled down.

"DAPHNE!" everyone cried. Fred desperately grabbed the rope again, and Daphne and the Phantom stopped in midair.

"Velma!" he shouted. "Help me! My grip's slipping!"

Velma grasped the rope with him and they grunted with the strain.

Daphne clutched the Phantom for dear life, as the Phantom's arms were still pinned to her sides by the rope. Shaggy watched helplessly from the stage. They were both still high enough that they would be hurt – badly – if they fell. "Scoob…like what do we do?" he murmured.

"Rye've rot em!" Scooby proclaimed, shaking his wig off his head. He ran downstage until he was right on the edge of the apron. "Reddie! Relma!" he barked up. "Rower rem rown. Rye've rot em!"

"What?" they called back.

"He like, wants you to lower them down," Shaggy called back. "We've got 'em down here!" Shaggy threw his own wig aside and followed Scooby downstage.

But before Fred and Velma could do anything, the rope snapped, and everyone screamed as Daphne and the Phantom plummeted down.

For a split second, time seemed to freeze as they fell. They were headed right for the pit. Surely they wouldn't get out unscathed. However, Scooby took a flying leap off the stage into the pit and cushioned their landing. He then grabbed the rope so the Phantom's arms remained pinned to her sides, and Shaggy ran into the house to help Daphne out of the pit.

"Like, are you okay?" he asked her.

She nodded and threw her arms around him in relief. "That was terrifying," she exclaimed. They let go and waved Fred and Velma down from the catwalk, but they were already on their way. Scooby exited the pit next leading the Phantom out by the rope, and she sat defeated on the floor.

Fred and Velma both embraced Daphne when they arrived. "That's twice in one day I've almost lost you now," Fred whispered to her.

"Keyword: almost," Daphne replied, kissing him tenderly.

"I'm just glad you're safe," Velma said, trying to get her racing heart back to its normal speed.

"Thanks to Scooby." Daphne looked at the dog fondly, and bent down to hug him.

"Raw, rhucks," Scooby said with a smile.

"Now," said Fred, approaching the Phantom, who was still tied up on the floor. "Let's see if we're right about who the Phantom really is." He turned towards his girlfriend. "Daphne, would you like to do the honors?"

"Certainly, Freddie," she replied. She knelt towards the floor and removed the Phantom's black wig first, revealing platinum-blonde hair. Then she peeled away the mask, to reveal…

"Leesa Beamer!"

The stage manager looked up at the gang shamefacedly.

"Rye roo it," Scooby proclaimed.

Leesa looked at him, confused. "How?"

"He like, recognized your hair in the costume loft," Shaggy told her. "We found it like, on the couch in the costume loft, near the secret shoe room where Daphne was hidden."

"I realized it when this fell out of your pocket after you shut me in there," Daphne continued, pulling out the lipstick again. "It's the same shade as the lipstick on the mirror the day the girl's dressing room was destroyed."

Leesa shook her head. "I should have known better than to try to fool you."

"Rye rusted roo," Scooby said, looking at her with hurt in his eyes. "Rhy rid roo ro it?"

Leesa sighed. "This is my senior year," she said. "You know we only do a musical in the fall, and then we do a straight play in the spring." She shrugged. "This was my last chance to do a musical here. And then after callbacks, when Mr. Atwood asked me to stay back, he told me he wanted me as the stage manager so that Daphne could be the lead." She looked at Daphne mournfully. "I was so jealous. And mad. All I wanted was to scare Daphne away from the production. I never wanted to hurt her."

"What about the sandbag?" asked Velma. "That certainly had the potential to hurt her."

"I swear to God that was an accident," Leesa exclaimed. "I was figuring out how to attach myself to the wires in the fly space. I'd been practicing with it before rehearsal that day, and something had gotten stuck somewhere…" She looked Daphne in the eye. "I'm so sorry. I swear I never meant to hurt you."

"Then why did you kidnap her?" asked Fred.

"That was an accident too," Leesa replied.

The gang stared at her dubiously.

"It was!" she insisted. "I panicked. When she fell into me, I just grabbed her and took her with me. I wasn't going to hurt her. I was just afraid that she'd realize it was me. I had to take her and hide her somewhere until I figured out what to do." She looked at Daphne again. "I'm so sorry. I was going to let you go, I swear."

Daphne surprised everyone. "I believe you," she said.

Everyone gawked at her.

"What? Why?" asked Velma.

"Because this isn't really about me," Daphne replied. "Well, it is. But more than me, it's about Christine McCormack."

Tears filled Leesa's eyes and she closed them and hung her head. After a moment she nodded miserably.

Shaggy furrowed his brow. "Like, why do I know that name?"

"It was name of the student that inspired the legend of the Phantom," Velma reminded him. "We read about her at the library, remember?"

"That right," said Fred. "And Harrison Walsh."

"That was when I knew I'd gone too far," Leesa whispered. Her tears hadn't fallen, but it looked as though they might at any moment. "I'd known that a kid had gotten injured once, but I had no idea his name was Harrison Walsh. It provided a red herring that I never intended. I never wanted Holden to be blamed for any of this. He honestly had nothing to do with it – it was all me."

"I'm like, confused," said Shaggy. "What does Christine McCormack have to do with any of this? She went here like, twenty years ago."

Daphne knelt beside Leesa and put a hand on her shoulder. "She was your aunt, wasn't she?" she asked softly.

A tear escaped and trickled down Leesa's cheek. "Yes," she murmured.

Velma stared at her. "Wait. Christine McCormack was your aunt? The one who…" She didn't finish the sentence.

Shaggy suddenly remembered the day of the full-cast bonding, when Leesa had mentioned her aunt. "Zoinks," he whispered, wide-eyed. "How did you figure that out, Daph?"

"I mentioned when we found her picture in the yearbook that she looked familiar," Daphne said. "I just didn't realize who she reminded me of until I saw Leesa in the Phantom costume."

"Jinkies..." Velma breathed.

Leesa took a shaky breath as more tears fell. "She used to tell me stories about her days as an actress here. The story about the kid who injured his leg during dance rehearsal for _Grease _stuck with me. But when I was a little girl, I used to love the stories she'd tell me about her time on this stage. It was my biggest dream to perform on this stage like her. After she died, I was distraught. And like I said, this was my last chance to perform a musical here. I wanted to do it in her memory. But…I didn't get the part I wanted."

"So you tried to scare Daphne away?" Fred asked. "So you could take the role of Diana from her?"

"Well, I knew it wouldn't be that simple," Leesa admitted. "Not after the rest of you got involved with the production. So…I'm sorry to say this, but I tried to scare Scooby away first."

Scooby gave her a quizzical expression. "Rut?"

Leesa looked at him mournfully. "Scooby, I'm sorry. I swear, you're the best ASM I've known. You learned so quickly. I didn't expect you to be so good. But I knew your reputation in the group as one of the cowards, so I figured you'd be my easiest target. That's why I told you the story of the Phantom first. Theaters all over the world are said to be haunted, and the students here have always called our ghost The Phantom of the Auditorium, but I was the one who really helped spread the story around, especially this year. I combined elements from different shows - the injury from _Grease _with my aunt as the lead in _West Side Story - _and embellished the rest to make it more interesting . All that stuff about the _Phantom of the Opera _first being performed here was a big then I made sure that only you saw me the first few times."

Shaggy sighed. "And like that's why you made sure I was the other person that saw you," he realized. "Because I'm…the other coward."

"And you figured that if Scooby and Shaggy quit the play," Velma said. "The rest of us wouldn't be far behind."

Leesa closed her eyes and shook her head. "I feel horrible about it," she squeaked. "All my motivations were wrong. And at first I didn't care about any of you. I just wanted you guys out of the play, and for Holden not to feel isolated. You turned the whole cast against him, and that was never my intention. So I decided to have that cast bonding session while Mr. Atwood was out sick, so that Holden would get back into everyone's good graces. But that plan backfired."

"How?" asked Daphne. "Holden _is _back in everyone's good graces."

Leesa smiled sadly. "It backfired because I got to know you," she replied. "All of you. I was already starting to like you all by then, but after that day…after everything I learned about you all…" Leesa shook her head. "I couldn't keep treating you the way I had been."

"So then why dress up as the Phantom again today?" asked Fred. "What purpose did that serve?"

"I wasn't planning on it," Leesa said. "I swear. When Mr. Atwood went home sick again, it came upon me as like a spur-of-the-moment idea. I decided I would appear as the Phantom to see if anyone still believed the legend. If it didn't work, I'd quit for good and just let the show go on."

"But then I fell into you and you caught me," Daphne said. "And you were afraid I'd expose you in front of everyone, so when you went back up into the fly space, you decided to just take me with you."

"I am _so _sorry, Daphne," Leesa said again. "I wish I could make you understand how much I regret everything. And Fred – I was putting the production behind schedule more than you were. I'm sorry I let you take the brunt of that_. _I was the one hiding the props and the costumes. I was the one who told the drama class to start building the set early because I knew it would put Mr. Atwood even further on edge. I was the one who ransacked the girl's dressing room. I didn't want to hurt you – any of you. I just wanted to make my aunt proud." She shook her head. "But she wouldn't be very proud of how I've been behaving. I'm so sorry."

"Like, I have a question," Shaggy piped up. "If you were the ghost then like...what did you see last year when you fell off the stairs?"

Leesa sighed. "That was a lie, too, and it was for the dumbest reason. I did fall of the stairs, but it was just because I missed a step. I had a crush on the boy who played the Baker and I didn't want him to think I was a klutz, so I made up the story that I'd seen the Phantom. Though I ended up getting a lot of mileage out of that story this year."

"I can't believe we didn't suspect it sooner," Velma murmured. "Now that you're telling us everything, it makes total sense. But what I don't understand is why you always seemed surprised as the rest of us when things went wrong."

Leesa shrugged. "I'm an actor," she said by way of explanation.

No one said anything for a while.

"I truly am sorry," Leesa told them. "I don't expect you to forgive me. And obviously you have to tell Mr. Atwood."

"No we don't," said Daphne.

Everyone gawked at her again.

"What do you mean 'no we don't?'" said Fred.

"We're back on schedule with the show. Nobody actually got hurt. She apologized to me, and I accept," Daphne said. "And I believe her. I don't think she's going to do anything more to sabotage the production."

"Daph, are you sure?" Velma tried to dissuade her.

But Daphne was vehement. "If she does anything else to mess up the play, that's when we tell Mr. Atwood. But I believe that she's turning over a new leaf."

"But what about the other students?" asked Leesa. "They all saw me kidnap you. How do you explain that?"

"We could tell parts of the truth," Daphne suggested. "That it was a prank to scare us, and that you kidnapping me was an accident. We don't have to tell everyone that you were deliberately sabotaging the production in order to drive us away."

"Will everyone believe that?" asked Velma dubiously.

"They will if Daphne says it," Fred replied. "She's the best actress."

Leesa looked at them mournfully. "You guys are too kind," she said. "I don't deserve this. Daphne, I really do feel terrible."

"I know," Daphne told her. "And that's why I know you'll keep your promise."

x.X.x

"So…it was all a prank?" asked Tony.

"It was," said Daphne. "And it almost worked."

They had just called the other students back into the auditorium and debriefed them on parts of what had happened. They'd left out Leesa's malicious primary intentions, and had only said that she'd wanted to play a trick on them.

"Yep," Leesa confirmed. "But Mystery Inc. was too smart to be fooled. I would have gotten away with it if it weren't for these meddling kids and their dog." She looked at Holden. "I am sorry that everyone suspected you. That's completely my fault."

"Well, it certainly made for an interesting rehearsal process," Holden said with a grin.

After everyone had apologized and been forgiven, the run-through picked up where it had left off. The rest of the rehearsal went quite well, and everyone left school feeling accomplished.

"You know," Daphne said as Fred drove everyone back home. "I'm glad we figured out the mystery behind the Phantom, but I wish Leesa had just told me how she'd been feeling. A lot of drama could have been avoided if she'd just told me she was jealous."

"That's true," Fred replied. "We may have even all become friends sooner."

"It's important to communicate your feelings," Daphne sighed, remembering what Velma had said to her on Skype all those months ago. She gazed at Fred. She'd been through a lot that afternoon, what with the kidnapping and the dangerous struggle over the catwalk. What if something had happened and she'd never gotten another chance to tell Fred that she loved him? She placed a hand on his arm as he drove. She didn't want to tell him now, while Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby were with them. But she was feeling braver now than she had been. "You have to tell people how you're feeling," she murmured, almost to herself. It was her resolve – her way of convincing herself that she was able to do this.

Velma glanced at Shaggy out of the corner of her eye. Though she knew that Daphne was speaking of her own feelings for Fred, Velma realized that in all the time they'd been meeting in the practice room, Velma had never actually told Shaggy how she felt. Sure, she'd said she enjoyed what they did in the practice room (which was true), but she'd never explicitly told Shaggy that she had feelings for him. Actually, she hadn't told _anyone _that fact in so many words – the only person who knew was Tony. _Jinkies, _Velma thought to herself. _Here I am, chiding Daphne for not telling Fred that she loves him, while I'm doing the exact same thing. _But Velma wasn't ready to put her friendship with Shaggy on the line like that – not unless he wanted it, too. And as far as Velma could tell, he had just wanted a casual hook-up.

Shaggy himself was taking a different sort of meaning from Daphne's words. He was thinking about his family. His sister. They hadn't really talked about Sugie since she'd died. But now that Shaggy had talked about her with his friends, he knew how essential it was to keep that conversation going. And he wanted to start tonight. Shaggy made eye contact with Scooby. Somehow, Scooby seemed to know exactly what he was thinking, and for that Shaggy was grateful.

It was time to talk to his parents.

* * *

**Sponge: Thanks for reading. Two chapters left! Wow. More next week! Review if you please!**


	16. Hey 3Perfect For You (Reprise)

**Sponge: Oh my goodness, the penultimate chapter is upon us. Warnings: some angst in the beginning, plus language and kissing later. Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Scooby-Doo characters. They belong to Cartoon Network, Warner Brothers, and Hanna-Barbera. All lyrics to the songs "Maybe (Next to Normal)" and "Hey #3/Perfect For You (Reprise)" belong to Brian Yorkey. All dialogue in bold comes from the **_**Next to Normal **_**script. Also a note: There's a little bit of disparity between the script for **_**Next to Normal**_** and the soundtrack – the soundtrack states the baby died at eighteen months, while the script says eight months. I'm going with eighteen months because it's the age given in the soundtrack, which is more widely accessible. Anyway. Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 16: Hey #3/Perfect For You (Reprise)**

Fred dropped Shaggy and Scooby off at their house first. Shaggy's father was sitting on a couch in the living room, pouring candy into a bowl to get ready for trick-or-treaters.

"Hello son," said Mr. Rogers. "Your mother went to the store for more candy. Are you and Scooby going to have your Vincent Van Ghoul marathon tonight?"

Shaggy nodded. Ever since he'd decided he was too old to go trick-or-treating, he and Scooby had spent Halloween night watching scary movies starring their favorite actor while his parents passed out candy.

"Rant re to ret rhe rovies?" asked Scooby.

Shaggy laid a hand on the dog's head. "Like not yet, Scoob. I want to talk to Dad first. And I want you to be here." He was glad his dad was the only one here - he wanted to get a feel for how he'd react before he talked to his mother. He sat down on the couch beside his father.

Mr. Rogers looked at his son warily. "What's going on?" he asked, concern coloring his tone.

"It's like nothing big, Dad," Shaggy said, even though it was. "I just..." He swallowed and looked down at Scooby, who nodded for him to go on. Shaggy took a deep breath. "You know how like, I'm in this play at school?"

Mr. Rogers nodded. "Yes. When's opening night? You never told us. It must be coming up soon."

"Like yeah, it's a week from tomorrow," said Shaggy.

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" asked Mr. Rogers.

Shaggy said nothing. Scooby nudged him.

Mr. Rogers furrowed his brow. "What's going on, son?"

Shaggy took another deep breath. "I like...I didn't say anything earlier because I wasn't sure if you and Mom would want to come."

"Why wouldn't we want to come?" Mr. Rogers asked.

Shaggy forced himself to look his father in the eye. "Because it like...it hits a little close to home."

"What do you mean?"

Shaggy paused. "Dad," he said finally. "Like...why don't we ever talk about my sister?"

Mr. Rogers' expression didn't change, though the worried gaze in his eyes softened. "I don't know, son," he answered after several moments. "I think it's because I don't want to upset your mother."

"I get it," Shaggy said. "I like, feel that way too. But this play I'm in...it's so similar to what happened to us. And like, I was afraid that if you and Mom came to see it, it would make you remember everything."

Shaggy's father looked at him sadly. "Son," he murmured, his voice breaking. "Of course I remember Maggie."

Hearing his sister's name come out of his father's mouth made a lump rise in Shaggy's throat.

"I think about her every single day," Mr. Rogers continued. "And I miss her every single day."

"So do I," said Shaggy thickly.

"Re roo," Scooby admitted, laying his head on Shaggy's knee.

Mr. Rogers sniffed and cleared his throat. "So the play is about a family who loses a child?"

"Like basically," Shaggy replied. "Daphne plays the mom character who's bipolar depressive. Freddie's like, the dad. Velma's their daughter. This kid Holden plays like, the ghost of the son who died. And my friend Tony plays Daphne's doctor."

"Who do you play?" asked Mr. Rogers.

"Velma's...boyfriend." Astonishingly, Shaggy felt a thrill go through his body as he used the word 'boyfriend' to describe himself in relation to Velma. In spite of the heaviness of the conversation they were having now, thinking of his relationship with Velma made him feel lighter. How was that possible? He wished she were here with him. Not wanting to dwell on this, Shaggy continued. "The play's really good. We've been like, working really hard. But I wasn't sure if you and Mom would be okay to see it."

"I'll talk to your mother with you," Mr. Rogers promised. "But even if she doesn't think she's ready, I'll be there, at the performance."

"Like thanks Dad." This meant more to Shaggy than he could say.

"And never feel like you can't talk to me about Maggie," Mr. Rogers whispered. "It must have been terrible for you to go through the rehearsal process with no one to talk to."

"Actually, I like, ended up telling my friends," Shaggy admitted. "It really helped to talk to them. Especially...especially Velma." _Damn it like, don't blush now!_ Shaggy thought to himself as he felt heat rise up his neck. He continued regardless. "Talking to her like, helped me realize how important it is for _us_ to talk about Sugie."

Mr. Rogers chuckled sadly. "I had forgotten that you called her that," he murmured. Tears filled his eyes, and, to Shaggy's horror, he felt his own eyes well up. Both of them blinked their tears away before they could fall. "You have good friends, son," said Mr. Rogers. "I'm sorry that it took your mother and I so long to come around to them. Especially Velma. She's good for you. They all are."

Forget about blinking tears away. Shaggy felt them fall before he even realized they were there. "Like thanks, Dad," he murmured.

The sound of a car pulling into the driveway took them out of the moment.

"Your mother's home," said Mr. Rogers. "Are you ready?"

Shaggy nodded and rubbed his eyes. "Like yep."

"Re roo," Scooby agreed.

They sat together, steeling themselves for the difficult but necessary conversation that was about to ensue.

x.X.x

"Ruess rhat?" Scooby barked as he and Shaggy climbed into the Mystery Machine the next morning.

"What?" asked Daphne from the front seat.

"We like, talked to Mom and Dad about Sugie last night," Shaggy replied.

Velma, who sat between Daphne and Fred, turned around and blinked at him. "Jinkies," she said. "You did? How...how did it go?"

Shaggy shrugged. "It was like, fine," he said honestly. "We all got a little emotional. But I'm glad we did it. And like, now Mom and Dad are gonna come to the play."

"That's great, Shag," said Fred from the drivers' seat.

"It is," Velma murmured. "I'm so glad you talked to them. I know that conversation was probably really difficult."

Shaggy looked her in the eyes. "It was," he said seriously. "But it like, needed to happen. And it couldn't have happened without you."

Velma stared at him, suddenly finding it difficult to swallow.

Shaggy blinked and looked away from her. There was something about that exchange that had been extremely intimate, and he didn't want anyone to notice – especially Scooby, who was sitting right next to him. "All of you," he said to the group at large. "If I hadn't like, talked about her that day at rehearsal, I don't think I ever would have found the courage to bring her up to my parents."

Daphne, ever the empath, reached across the back of the seat to put a hand on Shaggy's shoulder. She gave him a watery smile. "I'm glad we could do that for you," she said.

"Me too, Shag," said Fred, looking at him kindly through the rearview mirror.

Velma patted Scooby Doo on the head and bit her lip. She did not look at Shaggy.

This was now the third day in a row where they had no plans to meet in the practice room and if Velma was being honest with herself, it was kind of driving her crazy. She missed his touch, his closeness. She wanted to feel his skin on hers, to melt into his arms. She wanted to embrace him and whisper how proud she was of him for talking to his parents.

Shaggy wished he could tell Velma more plainly how much it meant to him that she'd helped him find the courage to start that conversation with his parents. He, too, missed her more than he cared to admit. It had been different before homecoming, when they were mad at each other. Now when he sat beside her in class, he just felt…sad. It was like a break-up. But could you break up with someone that you weren't technically dating?

He wished he could turn his brain off.

x.X.x

Now that the Phantom was no longer wreaking havoc, everyone was able to focus and dress rehearsals commenced. In Scooby's opinion, the cast had never been better. Everyone sounded phenomenal. The acting was on point. Fred remembered all his lines. Everything behind the scenes was going well too. True to her word, Leesa did not do anything more to sabotage the production. Fred wasn't sure he'd ever be able to truly forgive her, after what she'd done to Daphne, but he was glad things were back to normal. Or...next to normal, as it were.

Now that they had begun dress rehearsals, the cast was no longer allowed to watch the performance from the house. Instead, they had to remain in the dressing rooms or the wings while waiting for their next entrance cues. Because of this, there wasn't much opportunity to talk to each other during the run-throughs. But Shaggy had to admit that the final result was going to be pretty incredible. That afternoon at the first dress rehearsal, he actually felt himself getting a little emotional during Daphne and Velma's song "Maybe (Next to Normal)," where Diana decides she's going to stop treatment. Velma was in her formal coat, and her dress peeked out from beneath it.

They were midway through the song now, and Daphne/Diana embraced Velma/Natalie before continuing.

"_Maybe we can't be okay._

_But maybe we're tough and we'll try anyway – _

_We'll live with what's real._

_Let go of what's past,_

_And maybe I'll see you at last."_

Velma/Natalie broke away and shook her head. **"I don't believe you," **she said, turning to go.

Daphne/Diana watched her for a few steps before she spoke again. **"Seventeen years ago," **she began. Velma/Natalie turned back to her. **"Your brother died of an intestinal obstruction. He was eighteen months old. I'm sorry we never talked about that. We tried to give you a normal life, but I realize now I have no clue what that is."**

Velma/Natalie looked at her sadly for a few moments before she sang.

"_I don't need a life that's normal –_

_That's way too far away._

_But something…next to normal_

_Would be okay._

_Yeah, something next to normal – _

_That's the thing I'd like to try._

_Close enough to normal_

_To get by…"_

Daphne/Diana sang back. _"We'll get by…"_

Then Velma/Natalie had the final line. _"We'll get by…"_

Daphne/Diana nodded resolutely. **"Okay. Now go to your dance."**

They exited separately as the lights and music changed. Shaggy, wearing his full tuxedo, entered from stage right and stood alone. In the stage left wings while she removed her coat and handed it off to Harmony's waiting hands, Velma looked away, trying very hard not to feel self-conscious, and trying even harder not to notice how handsome Shaggy looked across the stage. She shook herself as the music reached a crescendo. This was her cue to re-enter. With a deep breath, she stepped into the light, and everyone saw her dress for the first time.

Tony stood in the stage left wings and looked on with a smile. Holden, who was standing in the stage right wings near Scooby's desk with Daphne and Fred, whistled lowly. "Wow. I thought she looked like a different person at homecoming. This is…something else."

"She's so beautiful," Daphne murmured proudly.

Fred nodded in agreement. Even Scooby from his ASM desk nearby was astounded by the transformation.

But none were as awestruck as Shaggy.

As he stared at her onstage, his breath caught in his throat. The strapless dress was midnight blue, the stage lights reflecting off the subtle sparkles sewn into the fabric. Shaggy had never seen Velma in a color other than orange or red before. The hem fell to the middle of her shins. She wore simple black flats on her feet. And she looked at him self-consciously, though she had no need.

She was lovely.

He was so distracted by her that he almost forgot to come in when the song began.

"_Hey," _he sang, just in time.

"_Hey," _she sang back.

"_You look like a star," _he continued softly.

"_A vision in blue."_

She looked down demurely. _"Oh, I do?"_

Shaggy took a step towards her. _"And you are." _ She truly was.

"_Hey," _he went on. _"You came."_

Velma shrugged. _"Well I said that I might."_

He took her hand. _"I thought we were through,_

_Me and you…"_

She shook her head. _"Not tonight."_

Shaggy/Henry: _"Will your mom be okay?"_

Velma/Natalie: _"Well, she might be, some day."_

Shaggy/Henry: _"But for now it's all fine?"_

Velma/Natalie: _"She's still on my mind."_

Shaggy/Henry: _"Can you leave it behind?_

_Stay."_

Velma/Natalie: _"Hey…hey…"_

Shaggy/Henry: _"Let's see this thing through."_

Velma/Natalie: _"Am I crazy?_

_I might end up crazy."_

Shaggy/Henry: _"I'll be here for you."_

Velma/Natalie looked at him with a slight shake of her head. _"You say that right here._

_But then give it a year,_

_Or ten years, or a life—_

_I could end up your wife._

_Sitting, staring at walls,_

_Throwing shit down the stairs,_

_Freaking out at the store,_

_Running nude down the street,_

_Bleeding out in the bath –"_

She cut herself off as Shaggy grabbed her and held her to him.

"**Shh," **he soothed, whispering into her hair. While she'd been singing, he'd been thinking about that first day they'd gone to the practice room together, how much the emergence of their passion had surprised them. He knew he liked her. He'd known that since the beginning. But these past several months, as they'd grown closer, everything had intensified for him. Now he understood why, and as he held her in his arms, he was finally ready to admit the truth. The whole truth.

He had feelings for Velma. Romantic feelings. And he had for a long time.

It was the first time he'd ever allowed himself to have that thought. There was so much more to their relationship than just the physical aspect, or even a regular friendship. The reason their intimacies were so amazing was because Shaggy felt romantically about Velma.

In the back of his mind, he heard Mr. Atwood's voice from that rehearsal where they'd had their first disastrous attempt at a kiss.

"_Remember," _he'd said. _"To Henry, Natalie is the most beautiful girl in the world. All he wants in this moment is to kiss her, and convince her that they should be together."_

To Shaggy, Velma was the most beautiful girl in the world. And all he wanted in this moment was to kiss her, and convince her that they should be together.

He wasn't Henry anymore. He was Shaggy, and he felt more brave than he'd ever been. He tilted her face upward so he could look in her eyes, and poured every ounce of his being into making these lines believable.

"_Perfect for you…" _he sang.

"_I __will__ be perfect for you._

_So you could go crazy,_

_Or I could go crazy, it's true…"_

He stroked her freckled cheek with his thumb. The gesture was so gentle, so sweet, that Velma came out of character herself as she stared into Shaggy's eyes.

"_Sometimes life is insane," _he continued.

"_But crazy I know I can do._

'_Cause crazy is perfect,_

_And fucked-up is perfect,_

_So I will be perfect…"_

Velma echoed him. _"Perfect…"_

And they both sang together. _"Perfect for you."_

They kissed tenderly as the lights came down. As soon as it was dark, they exited stage left, albeit reluctantly. Neither one had wanted to end that kiss. Especially now that their kisses were numbered. _They don't have to be, _Shaggy realized. _I can like, do something about it._

But there was only one week till opening night. If he was going to do something, he had to do it now.

"Great song guys," Tony whispered to them as they passed him in the wings. "That was really somethin'."

"Thanks Tony," Velma replied.

"Hey Velm," Shaggy said. "Can we like, talk for a minute?" They had a little time before they had to re-enter for the finale. Shaggy had to change out of his tux, but Daphne had a song, then Fred and Holden had one before Velma had to be back onstage.

"Okay," said Velma. She led the way into the girls' dressing room and they closed the door behind them. She thought she saw Tony shoot her a knowing look, but she ignored it.

Shaggy looked around. He hadn't been in here since the day it had been trashed. It looked much better now. They went to the couch and took a seat beside each other, not saying anything at first.

"I'm like, a little hungry," said Shaggy after a while. "You don't have a snack, do you?"

Velma chuckled wryly and reached for her nearby messenger bag. "I have Scooby Snacks. Is that okay?"

"Like, perfect," Shaggy replied, taking a few. He'd known she'd offer him Scooby Snacks. He had planned this. They were excellent sustenance to give him the boost of courage he needed.

"Tony was right," Velma said while Shaggy chewed. She didn't look at him. "That was a good song. I think it's the best it's ever been."

Shaggy swallowed the snacks and turned to look her in the eyes. "I meant it," he said in a low voice.

She blinked at him, uncomprehendingly. "What?"

"The song. I meant it," Shaggy repeated. When Velma didn't respond, Shaggy took a deep breath and gathered his courage. "I figured out why our meetings in the practice room meant so much to me. It was more than just like, a physical thing. It was more than like, just getting our chemistry up for the play. It was real for me. _This_ is real for me. I..." Shaggy took another deep breath and mustered all the bravery from the Scooby Snacks that he could. "I like you, Velma."

Oh what a relief to finally say the words out loud.

Velma's face remained impassive. "Is it the dress?" she asked after a while.

Shaggy furrowed his brow. "Like, what?"

"Is it because I'm wearing this?" Velma continued, gesturing to her costume.

"What? No, like, of course not," Shaggy exclaimed. "I mean, the dress is great Velma, but like, that's not what I'm talking about." He took a deep breath. He had to get this all about before he lost his nerve. "Listen, I've like, always been grateful to you, Daphne and Fred. You all really helped me a lot when I first moved here, and next to Scooby Doo, you guys are my best friends in the world. But like, I always felt differently about you than I have about anyone else. Especially after everything we talked about in the practice room last week. You have no idea how much that meant to me. How much _you _mean to me. I've always had like, stronger feelings for you. And I'm finally realizing that it's because they're…romantic feelings. Like the feelings Henry has for Natalie. I feel that way about you." The Scooby Snack courage was wearing off. He was talking too much. He had to shut up.

But Velma looked at him in disbelief. "You do?" she asked, sounding skeptical.

Shaggy dug deep for the last dregs of bravery from the Scooby Snacks. "Like yes," he said adamantly.

Velma blinked at him. Before Shaggy knew what was happening, Velma had closed the distance between them with a kiss so passionate it made his head spin. Shaggy wrapped his arms around her waist and returned the kiss while she enveloped his neck with her arms.

"Jinkies," Velma breathed when they broke apart. "I never thought you'd admit it."

"Wait," said Shaggy, looking at her inquisitively. "Did you know? How did you know? Like, _I_ didn't even know."

"I had a hunch," Velma replied with a shrug. "I'm a detective you know."

Shaggy smirked and pulled her closer for another kiss.

"By the way," she said when they came up for air again. "I feel that way about you, too."

"I like, figured that out," Shaggy said, gesturing to the non-existent space between them. "I'm a detective too."

They kissed again, letting their mouths open against each other. Shaggy didn't worry about anyone catching them - the others were either already onstage (he could hear Daphne singing through the speakers) or else waiting for cues. He would happily stay in here with Velma until they needed to go onstage themselves. He gripped her tighter as he felt her tongue brush his own.

"Zoinks," he whispered after several moments when they stopped to breathe again.

"I know," Velma replied softly.

They kept kissing. Shaggy brought his arms further around Velma and dipped his head down into the crook of her neck. "I like, do really like the dress," he admitted. It made it much easier for him to reach the tender skin on her neck, but he didn't say that.

She seemed to understand his meaning though, as she shifted slightly to give him more access. "Appreciate it while it lasts," she told him quietly. "Because I'm never wearing this thing again after next weekend."

"I guess I'll like, just have to enjoy it while I can," he murmured, nipping along her skin.

She whimpered slightly. "Shaggy," she breathed.

He gripped the fabric of her dress in response. God he loved hearing her say his name like that.

"Shh," he teased. "You like, gotta stay quiet. You don't want anyone to hear us again, do you?"

In response, Velma nibbled his earlobe and he sucked in a harsh breath of pleasure. "Well then you better not do anything that'll make me lose control of my volume."

Shaggy gripped her tighter, remembering the events that had led to the time Velma had gotten too loud. It was certainly an arousing memory.

"Besides," she continued, planting kisses all along his neck and jawline, "You weren't so quiet yourself. So tell me if it's getting to be too much for you to handle, and I'll stop."

Shaggy groaned softly and claimed her mouth with his again. He didn't want to stop. He wanted to keep kissing her, like this, forever.

But they could hear Daphne's song coming to an end, which meant that Fred and Holden's song was about to begin. Which meant they'd eventually have to leave the confines of the dressing room. And Shaggy still had one more thing he needed to say.

"Listen," he said the next time they broke the kiss. "There's like, something else we should talk about."

"Okay," Velma replied with a wry smile.

Shaggy gulped. "I uh...don't think you're gonna like it."

"Ruh-roh," Velma quipped, kindly mimicking Scooby.

Shaggy chuckled in spite of himself. "Actually, it's like, kind of about...him."

Velma lifted a shoulder. "I figured it was."

They sat in silence.

"You really don't want to tell him?" Velma said after a few moments.

"It's not that I like, don't want to. It's that I can't," Shaggy told her. "Believe me, I would like, love to not have to sneak around. But I don't see any other way." He stroked her cheekbone with his thumb. "You're both important to me. I like, don't want him to react badly to us, the way he does to Fred and Daphne. I want him to be like, happy for us when I tell him. I just have to figure out how to do that."

Velma nodded. "Okay. I understand. That seems reasonable. And until then...we'll keep this a secret from everyone?"

Shaggy nodded as well. "Is that like, okay?"

Velma shrugged and smiled. "I guess I can hold out on making this public a little while." She leaned in to give him a kiss. "We'll have to be creative about how to meet up, though. After the play's over, we won't have as many opportunities."

Shaggy returned the kiss. "You should come over and watch a horror movie with us," he said. "Even if Scoob's around, you could always grab my hand at the scary parts. As for like, the other stuff..." He kissed her collarbone and she gave a small gasp. "My parents always go to bed super early, and Scoob's a heavy sleeper. It would be like, pretty easy to meet up at my place."

Velma buried her face into his neck and planted kisses along the side of it while Shaggy shut his eyes and gripped her tighter. "I like the sound of that," she whispered into his shoulder.

He inhaled her sweet and spicy scent. "I have to like, go back to my dressing room," he mumbled reluctantly. "I need to change out of my tux for the last number."

"All right," said Velma, letting him go. "We'll have more time later."

He looked into her shining eyes and felt his heart expand. Unable to help himself, Shaggy leaned in to kiss her again.

It was true. They had all the time in the world now.

* * *

**Sponge: Thanks for reading. Final chapter's coming next week! Review if you please!**


	17. Light

**Sponge: Holy smokes, it's the final chapter! I made it kind of long, so I hope you enjoy this last installment! Warnings: language, kissing, and ...A LOVE CONFESSION?! Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Scooby Doo characters. They belong to Cartoon Network, Warner Brothers, and Hanna-Barbera. All dialogue in bold comes from the **_**Next to Normal **_**script. All lyrics to the songs "So Anyway," "I Am the One (Reprise)," and "Light" belong to Brian Yorkey.**

* * *

**Chapter 17: Light**

_One week later…_

Opening night had finally arrived. The entire cast stood in the stage right wings, in full costume for the opening number. The curtain was going to open for the start of Act I any minute. They had already completed their vocal warm-ups, and they could hear the orchestra tuning their instruments in the pit. The house had opened and the audience was starting to come in, but the curtains were closed, so everyone was hidden from view. Mr. Atwood, Leesa, and the drama students had all stressed the importance of _not _peeking through the curtains like first-graders, so the cast just stood there waiting for their places to be called.

Scooby sat at his ASM desk, flipping through his production binder to look at the cues. He wore his headphones to communicate with Leesa and the techies in the booth, so he was surprised when the door to the hallway opened and she stepped into the wings.

"Reesa?" he said in a whisper. "Rut rar roo roing?"

The others noticed her too. She smiled at them and waved.

"I just wanted to come say 'break a leg,'" Leesa replied.

Fred looked alarmed. "What?"

Daphne laughed. "Don't worry, babe. It's a term in the theater that means 'good luck.'"

"Then like, why not just say 'good luck?'" Shaggy wondered.

"Because it's bad luck to say good luck," Daphne replied.

"Sure, that makes sense," Velma remarked.

She and Shaggy shared a secret smile. Ever since their conversation in the dressing room last week when they'd admitted their feelings, their onstage chemistry had been better than ever. Though they didn't have time to meet in the practice room anymore, they were usually able to steal a few moments backstage together during rehearsals. Shaggy had to admit, he was looking forward to just being able to fool around without worrying about time limits or being caught.

"It's an amazing show," Leesa said. "And you all are perfect for it."

Daphne smiled. She knew that was as close as Leesa could get to apologizing for her stint as the Phantom in front of Tony and Holden.

"And you're a perfect stage manager," Daphne told her, hoping she understood that she was forgiven.

Leesa nodded and smiled.

"As Dan says," Fred added. "It's gonna be good."

Everyone laughed.

"I gotta get back to the booth," Leesa said. "Break a leg, everyone! Seriously." She left the way she came.

Daphne looked around at her friends. "Hey," she said to them. "You guys...I just wanted to say I'm so glad you auditioned for this show with me. It means so much that you did this."

"Like are you kidding?" Shaggy asked, bringing her in for a one-armed hug. "This was awesome. Even though the mystery was scary, we had fun. And some like...pretty good stuff came from this play." He couldn't stop himself from glancing over at Velma, but they broke eye contact before anyone else noticed.

Velma smiled. "Of course we'd do this with you, Daphne. You're our best friend." She walked over to the redhead and put an arm around her as well.

"We'd do anything for you," Fred told her, eyes smiling.

Daphne felt her heart swell with affection for the gang. She couldn't believe how lucky she was to have them. All of them. She took a deep breath. "You guys ready?"

"I'm like, a little nervous," Shaggy admitted.

"What if I forget my lines?" Fred worried.

"Relax, Jones," Holden assured him. "You're gonna do great."

"So will you, Rogers," Tony said, clapping Shaggy on the back. "The show is golden."

"Races, reveryone," Scooby said.

With one final group hug, the actors all got set for the opening number.

x.X.x

Opening night was a huge success. Shaggy felt astounded every time the audience reacted with laughter or applause. More than once, he exited stage right and mouthed "Zoinks" to Scooby as he passed into the boy's dressing room. And it wasn't just Shaggy – everyone was doing well. Fred remembered all of his lines. Everyone's props were where they were supposed to be. Scooby called all the cues flawlessly. Shaggy's parents had indeed come to the show and though he knew it had been difficult for them both, they made sure to tell him how well he'd done and how proud they were of him.

"It really is a phenomenal show," his mother stated, the remnants of tears still visible on her face.

In fact, Shaggy's parents found the show so phenomenal that they came back for every performance. Shaggy was glad for this, because he thought that the closing matinee was the best performance yet.

He stood with Velma in the stage left wings. They had just exited after "Hey #3/Perfect for You," which had gone amazingly. Tony stood nearby as well. Across the stage, Shaggy made eye contact with Scooby, who grinned at him. Holden waited beside Scooby to enter after Daphne's song "So Anyway," which was about to begin. She stood onstage now with suitcases beside her, Fred sitting in a chair and not looking at her as the song began.

_"So anyway, I'm leaving," _she sang.

_"I thought you'd like to know._

_You're faithful, come what may_

_But clearly I can't stay_

_We'd both go mad that way –_

_So here I go..."_

Next to "How Could I Ever Forget," this song was the most difficult for Daphne emotionally. She knew that separation was a very real possibility for her own parents, and this song always made her think about it.

_"And anyway, I'm leaving –_

_I guess that you can see._

_I'll try this on my own._

_A life I've never known._

_I'll face the dread alone..._

_But I'll be free."_

Not only that, but after what Fred had confessed to her in the dressing room, about the way he feared everyone leaving him the way his mother had left, she knew this song was hard for him too. And he just had to sit there and take it while Daphne made his worst nightmare come true.

_"With you always beside me_

_To catch me when I fall_

_I'd never get to know the feel of solid ground at all_

_With you always believing_

_That we could still come through_

_It makes me feel the fool to know that it's not true."_

Daphne would never leave Fred. Not in a million years. She loved him too much. Of course, he didn't know that yet. And Daphne knew that she couldn't put off telling him forever. She had to do it eventually.

_"What doctors call dysfunction,_

_We tried to call romance._

_And true, it's quite a trick to tell_

_The dancers from the dance –_

_But rather than let chance take me_

_I'll take a chance..."_

Fred/Dan still didn't look at her, just continued staring into space. Holden/Gabe entered then from stage right, listening.

Daphne/Diana continued her song. _"I'll take a chance on leaving._

_It's that or stay and die._

_I loved you once and though_

_You love me still, I know_

_It's time for me to fly..."_

She looked up, saw Holden/Gabe, and she addressed him as well.

_"I loved you once and though_

_I love you still, I know_

_It's time for me to go..."_

She felt her eyes well with tears as she imagined what it must be like to lose a child, lose all memory of him, lose your sense of reality, and have to leave your husband and daughter to get back some of what you'd lost. It was painful and heartbreaking.

_"And so," _she finished softly. _"Goodbye..."_

As the music changed, she nodded tearfully to Holden/Gabe and exited to applause. She wiped her eyes and stood next to Velma, who entered after the next song. Shaggy would wait till the end of the song to go change out of his tux.

Fred/Dan, sat on the chair unmoving. Holden/Gabe approached, but Fred/Dan didn't seem to notice.

To himself, after his wife, he began to sing.

_"I am the one who loved you_

_I am the one who stayed_

_I am the one, and you walked away._

_I am the one who waited..._

_And now you act like you just don't give a damn –_

_Like you never knew who I am."_

At this, Holden/Gabe began to sing, while Fred/Dan echoed each line with _"I am."_

_"I am the one who knows you,_

_I am the one you fear._

_I am the one who's always been here."_

Holden/Gabe drew closer.

_"I am the one who'll hear you_

_I know you told her that_

_I'm not worth a damn,_

_But I know you know who I am."_

Fred/Dan took a deep breath. **"No," **he said quietly, addressing his son for the first time.

_"I know you know who I am," _Holden/Gabe persisted.

Fred/Dan shook his head wearily. **"Can't you just leave me alone?"**

_"I know you know who I am." _Holden/Gabe wouldn't back down.

Fred/Dan: **"Why didn't you go with her?"**

Holden/Gabe: _"Cause I'm holding on..."_

Fred/Dan: _"Let me go."_

Holden/Gabe: "_And I won't let go..."_

Fred/Dan: _"Let me go._

_You don't know."_

Holden/Gabe: _"Yeah I want you to know."_

Their emotions had been rising as they'd sung, but it reached a tipping point here as they finally faced each other and sang together in harmony.

_"I am the one who held you._

_I am the one who cried._

_I am the one who watched while you died._

_Yeah, yeah, yeah..._

_I am the one who loved you._

_I tried pretending that I don't give a damn."_

Holden/Gabe alone now sang, _"But you've always known who I am."_

Emotionally spent, Fred tried to blink back tears, but wasn't fully successful. **"Gabe,"** he said, voice ragged and shaky. **"Gabriel."**

It was the first and only time he'd been called by his name.

Holden, too, felt emotional at the exchange. **"Hi, Dad,"** he said thickly.

They embraced, as father and son, and the audience burst into applause.

Daphne, who after her exit to the wings had stood with Shaggy and Velma, wiped her eyes again. Shaggy swallowed several times before whispering farewell to the girls. He exited into the hallway to run around to the boy's dressing room so he could change for the finale.

Velma, stoic as ever, entered from stage left after the applause died down. She still wore her blue dress, just coming home from the dance.

**"Dad?" **she murmured as Holden/Gabe exited. **"What the hell? Why are the lights off? Where's Mom?"**

Fred/Dan cleared his throat a few times. **"She's, uh, she's..."**

**"Gone," **Velma/Natalie finished for him.

Fred/Dan nodded. **"Yes," **he whispered.

Velma/Natalie looked around. **"Huh. So it's just me and you. For now."**

**"Yes," **Fred/Dan said again.

Music started from the pit, and Velma/Natalie sang.

_"We need some light._

_First of all, we need some light._

_You can't sit here in the dark,_

_And all alone –_

_It's a sorry sight._

_It's just you and me._

_We'll live. You'll see."_

She turned on a light and exited to change out of her dress.

Fred/Dan continued the song.

_"Night after night_

_We'd sit and wait for the morning light._

_But we've waited far too long_

_For all that's wrong_

_To be made right."_

Elsewhere, Daphne/Diana appeared.

_"Day after day..." _she sang.

_"Wishing all our cares away..._

_Trying to fight the things we feel..._

_But some hurts never heal._

_Some ghosts are never gone,_

_But we go on._

_We still go on._

_And you find some way to survive._

_And you find out you don't have to be happy at all_

_To be happy you're alive."_

She exited. Shaggy/Henry entered, a different day, and called off to Velma/Natalie.

**"Do you know where she went? Have you heard from her?"**

Offstage, Velma/Natalie replied. **"Oh, I've heard from her. She's staying with my grandparents."**

**"Do they actually exist?" **Shaggy/Henry teased gently.

Velma/Natalie entered then. **"Yes," **she replied, not amused.

**"So – that's good, right?" **said Shaggy/Henry.

Velma/Natalie shrugged. **"Well, going home has never been a solution to any of **_**my **_**problems."**

**"That's what you have me for," **Shaggy/Henry replied with a grin.

Velma/Natalie: **"Seriously? You're like number three on my list of issues."**

Shaggy/Henry: **"You keep a **_**list?"**_

Velma/Natalie smiled. **"But don't worry, Henry. You're my favorite problem."**

He returned the smile. **"That's all I ask."**

Velma/Natalie began to sing. _"Day after day,_

_Give me clouds, and rain, and gray._

_Give me pain, if that's what's real –"_

Elsewhere, Tony/Dr. Madden had entered with Fred/Dan, and sang with Velma/Natalie,

_"It's the price we pay to feel."_

Tony/Dr. Madden continued alone. _"The price of love is loss."_

Velma turned to go.

Tony/Dr. Madden: _"But still we pay..."_

But before she could get very far, Shaggy caught her arm, pulled her back, and kissed her.

Tony/Dr. Madden: _"We love anyway."_

Reluctantly, Shaggy and Velma broke the kiss – their last one of the show – and the lights came down on them.

They came back up on Fred/Dan, who was still with Tony/Dr. Madden. **"I know you can't tell me...if you're still treating her. I just, I wonder if she's okay."**

Tony/Dr. Madden looked at him kindly. **"I think she's working on it. And she's aware of the risks."**

**"Do you think she'll come home?" **Fred/Dan whispered.

Tony/Dr. Madden sighed. **"It's hard to know."**

Fred/Dan nodded in defeat. **"Right."**

Tony/Dr. Madden paused for a beat. Then he said, **"Dan. Would you like me to recommend someone...for you to talk to?"**

Immediately, Fred/Dan shook his head and began to object. **"Oh, no, I..." **he trailed off and stared into space for a moment. Then, thinking better of it, said, **"Yes. I would. Thank you."**

They sat down to talk as Holden/Gabe appeared elsewhere, on a platform, watching over them all.

_"And when the night has finally gone," _he sang.

_"And when we see the new day dawn,_

_We'll wonder how we wandered for so long, so blind."_

Fred/Dan and Tony/Dr. Madden stood up. Tony/Dr. Madden wrote on the back of a card and handed it to Fred/Dan.

Holden/Gabe continued. _"The wasted world we thought we knew –_

_The light will make it look brand new."_

Fred/Dan left the office and stepped into the light.

Lights came up one by one on other members of the cast as they all sang,

_"So let it_

_So let it_

_So let it_

_Let it..."_

Elsewhere, Daphne/Diana stepped into the light, and the whole company sang in unison.

_"Shine!_

_Shine!_

_Shine!"_

They moved in synchronized steps towards the apron, singing together as they went.

_"Day after day..._

_We'll find the will to find our way,_

_Knowing that the darkest skies_

_Will someday see the sun –"_

Fred/Dan stepped forward, alone, and sang by himself. _"When our long night is done..."_

Velma/Natalie stepped forward and harmonized with him. _"There will be light."_

Then the rest of the company joined in. _"There will be light."_

Scooby, sitting at his desk, watched from the wings. This was the part of the finale that always gave him goosebumps. As the company formed into their position for the final notes, Scooby felt so proud of his friends. Obviously Daphne was a star, but Fred, Velma, and Shaggy had all held their own through this entire production. He was going to miss the show when it was over.

Holden/Gabe stood on his platform, overlooking the rest. The company, from stage left to stage right, went Tony, then Daphne, then Fred, then Velma, then Shaggy. Shaggy and Scooby shared a quick smile as the song concluded.

_"When we open up our lives,_

_Sons and daughters, husbands, wives –_

_And fight that fight..._

_There will be light._

_There will be light._

_There will be light._

_There will be light!"_

As the music reached a crescendo and the finale came to its dramatic conclusion, the lights went down, and the audience exploded with applause.

In the darkness, Holden carefully descended from the platform to join the rest of the cast on the apron. When the lights came back up, everyone took a turn bowing, which Scooby knew from Daphne was called a curtain call.

Tony went first, grinning sheepishly as the audience stood and continued to clap and cheer. Shaggy went next, and caught sight of his parents in the same seats they'd been in for the previous three shows. He also noticed that Mayor Jones was sitting with them, as were the Blakes and the Dinkleys.

Velma noticed too, as she took the next bow. She also noticed that her younger sister Madelyn was in the audience...as well as her older sister Dottie, along with her husband Bill, and baby Lorelei. Velma couldn't wipe the shocked smile from her face.

Fred, like Tony, grinned modestly as he bowed. When Holden went, Fred noticed the tears in his eyes as he gratefully put a hand to his heart before bowing for the audience. Daphne went last, a huge, gorgeous smile lighting up her already beautiful face, and the applause was uproarious. She took a humble bow, and the cast joined hands to bow together. They let go of hands to gesture to the pit orchestra, who were still playing the curtain call music. Next they gestured up to the catwalk, where the lighting technicians flashed the spotlights, then to the booth where Mr. Atwood, Leesa, and the other heads of crew sat. Daphne noticed the tears in Leesa's eyes all the way from the stage. Finally, the cast gestured to stage right, where Scooby Doo came out from the wings to take a bow of his own.

Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, Scooby, Holden, and Tony all joined hands for one final bow together before the curtains closed.

x.X.x

Later, when the cast and crew had congratulated and hugged each other, the gang went out into the hallway to see their families.

"Hey, guys!" Tony called out, rushing over to the gang with a small group of people in tow. "I want you to meet my folks. Ma, these are my pals from school, Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby."

"You all did an amazing job," Mrs. Moretti said. Like her son, she had a New York accent.

The gang thanked her humbly.

"This is my brother Joey," Tony continued, gesturing towards a young man who was basically just a slightly older-looking version of Tony himself.

"I think we met briefly several months ago," Joey said, shaking everyone's hands. He seemed much more jovial and friendly than the last time the gang had seen him. Shaggy could tell that Tony was relieved.

"And this is his girlfriend," Tony continued. Beside Joey stood a very pretty young woman with brown hair and brown eyes who looked to be about twenty or so.

"Julie St. James," she introduced herself. "Seriously, what a great show. Especially for a high school production. You all are extremely talented."

Embarrassed from the praise, the gang all murmured their thanks.

Holden introduced his boyfriend Jack to the gang next. Leesa and her parents came by. It seemed that someone new came up to congratulate the gang every few seconds. They even ran into a few kids from school, and all their classmates had told them how much they'd enjoyed the show.

"Seriously, V," said Marcie Fleach, a friend of Velma's from the science club. "I had no idea you could sing like that. Or play the piano."

Velma bit her lip and smiled demurely. She caught Shaggy's eye, and he nudged her proudly.

"Well, Daphne's really the star you know," Velma murmured, feeling her cheeks flame pink.

"Come on, Velm," Daphne laughed. "Enjoy your time in the spotlight for a change." So only the gang could hear, she whispered. "Me wanting to be a star so much is part of the reason the Phantom showed up. It doesn't always have to be about me all the time - in fact, it's better for us to share the glory. That's why we're such a good mystery-solving team."

"Well, the play was fun," Velma admitted, to the whole group again. "But I don't think I'm in a hurry to be in another one."

"Me neither," Fred spoke up. "I had a great time, but I'm no good at memorizing lines. I wasn't off book at all until a few days ago."

"Does this mean you'll come back to the science club now?" Marcie asked Velma.

"Only if it means Jones comes back to the football team," came the voice of Trent Adams, Fred's quarterback buddy, from behind them. Everyone laughed.

It was only when the gang found their families that the rest of their classmates dispersed.

"You were wonderful, sweetie," Mrs. Blake gushed, squeezing Daphne to her and kissing her hair. Mr. Blake proudly put a hand on her shoulder.

"So were you, son," Mayor Jones said to Fred.

"Dottie!" Velma exclaimed, completely ignoring her parents and Madelyn. "It's great to see you! What are you doing here?"

Dottie smiled. "I had to come out and see my little sister make her big stage debut. Besides," she gestured to the stroller in front of her. "There was a little bundle who really wanted to meet her Aunt Velma and Aunt Madelyn."

Velma peered awestruck at the baby in the stroller. "Jinkies," she marveled, totally enamored with her niece.

Everyone got to hold baby Lorelei for a little while. When they finished passing the baby around, Mrs. Rogers cleared her throat.

"You all did such an incredible job with this show," she said to the gang. "But more than that – you all have been such incredible friends to my son." She placed a hand on Shaggy's shoulder. "I had hoped that our move here would be better for all of us. But it's been the best for Nor – Shaggy."

Shaggy stared at his mother in disbelief. She had never called him by his nickname before.

"I couldn't have imagined better friends for him," Mrs. Rogers continued. "And I'm so grateful, to all of you, that he has you. I'm sorry for everything that happened at the end of the summer. I believe we came off a little harsh, and it was unnecessary."

"We've all done some talking," Mrs. Dinkley added. "And we've decided that as long as you don't neglect your studies, you all can continue solving mysteries together."

Scooby felt his jaw drop.

"Really? You mean it?" Fred could hardly dare to believe what was happening.

Mayor Jones nodded. "It's not every day you find friends as true as these, son. Far be it from me to try to separate you."

"Indeed," Mr. Blake added. "When you mean that much to someone...you should hold on to them."

Daphne blinked at her parents. She knew them well enough to read between the lines. They were giving her their blessing to continue seeing Fred. Not that it would have mattered if they'd forbidden it – Daphne would have found a way to be with him regardless. But it meant so much to her that her parents now accepted their relationship.

Velma stepped forward and hugged her mother. "Thanks, Mom," she murmured. "This means a lot. To all of us." The others also followed suit and embraced their parents.

"So," said Mr. Rogers. "Do you kids want to go for a late lunch at the malt shop?"

Shaggy shook his head. "Like, as hungry as I am," he began. "We have to stick around to help break down the set. I think it's called...spike?"

"Strike," Daphne corrected him with a smile. "But the cast party is at my house tonight. Parents are welcome too. We'll all be downstairs, and the adults will be upstairs. And even though there's no school tomorrow because of Veteran's Day, the party won't go too late."

"That might be nice," Mrs. Rogers conceded. "All right. You kids clean up, and we'll see you at the Blakes' house this evening."

Their families all waved goodbye, and the gang headed back to the auditorium, astonished and thrilled by what had just happened.

x.X.x

Several hours later, after the set had been broken down, the stage cleaned up, the props put away, and the ghost light turned on, the cast party was in full swing at Daphne's. Everyone who'd been involved in the production had shown up, including Mr. Atwood, Mr. Harrison, and Ms. Barden, who hung out upstairs with the parents. The students – cast, crew, and orchestra – were all downstairs. Some kids danced, some just stood around talking. But everyone was smiling and laughing.

Scooby and Shaggy, of course, were eating. It seemed that Holden Walsh and Corinne Faulkner were especially impressed by their ability to basically swallow their food without chewing it at all.

Velma stood nearby, watching with a smile. As happy as she was that Shaggy had admitted his feelings for her, she hoped that he would figure out a way to tell Scooby about them soon. For now, she'd keep her distance so as not to call attention to them. She could wait till tomorrow, when she'd go to his house to watch that scary movie like he'd suggested. Velma looked around, thinking she could talk to Daphne or Fred, but they were nowhere to be found.

She approached Tony. "Have you seen Daph?"

"She's over there with Jonesey." Tony gestured to a corner where the two of them appeared to be in very deep conversation. Velma furrowed her brow. Was Daphne finally telling Fred she loved him? Almost unconsciously, her eyes found Shaggy's across the room. He grinned surreptitiously at her, and she returned the smile.

Tony noticed. "You two seem better than ever," he said, jerking his head towards Shaggy. "Are you guys back to normal now?" He asked this last in an undertone.

Velma sighed. "It's complicated."

"Isn't it always?"

"We have to keep it a secret for now, until Shaggy figures out how to break it to Scooby."

"All right," Tony conceded. "So Jonesey and Blake don't know either, huh?"

Velma shook her head. "Nope. And seriously, Tony, we want to keep it that way."

"Don't worry," he assured her. "Your secret is safe with me."

x.X.x

"Can you believe our parents rescinded the Ultimatum?" Daphne was saying to Fred from their semi-private corner.

Fred looked at her quizzically. "Rescinded?"

Daphne sighed and chuckled. "It's an SAT word, babe. It means they took it back."

"Oh." Fred grinned sheepishly. "My lines from the play are still taking up all my brain space – I don't have any more room for memorizing vocab words."

This time, Daphne laughed out loud. "Well, we should study together more."

"What's the point?" Fred murmured, leaning down to kiss her gently. "We never get much studying done when we're together. Not that I mind."

Daphne returned the kiss, but kept it chaste. "Babe, we're surrounded by people here," she whispered.

"We don't have to be," Fred replied huskily. Daphne noticed his eyes stray towards one of the empty guest rooms.

"Mmm," she sighed, resting her head on his shoulder. "As great as it sounds to have some alone time, I don't want anyone from the party accidentally walking in on us – especially when everyone's parents are right upstairs."

"That's a good point," Fred agreed, wrapping a strong arm around Daphne's waist. "But speaking of parents, no, to answer your earlier question, I can't believe they called off the Ultimatum."

"They seem to be coming around to us," Daphne said.

Fred nodded. "You know, after Shaggy told us that he talked to his parents about his sister, I thought I might try to ask my dad about my mother. I haven't quite gotten up the courage yet, but I hope I will soon."

"I'll be here for you when you do," Daphne promised, kissing him on the cheek.

He squeezed her gently. "You're always there for me when I need you," he murmured against her hair. "It's one of the reasons why I love you so much."

Daphne felt her heart stop. She turned and gazed at Fred in disbelief. "What did you say?"

Fred looked down at her, confused. "What?"

"You...you just said you loved me."

Fred's facial expression didn't change. "Yes...?"

Daphne couldn't help it. She burst into laughter.

Now Fred looked worried. "What's so funny?"

Daphne quickly got a hold of herself. _Jeepers, laughter should not be the first response to someone confessing their love. _"I'm sorry," she said. "It's just..." Another giggle escaped before she could stop it. "It's just that I've been trying to get up the courage to tell you I love you for _months _now."

Fred looked astonished. "You have?"

Daphne nodded. "I've gotten close a few times, but we always either got interrupted, or I chickened out. I was so nervous! And it came out so easily for you."

"It is easy. Watch." Fred moved so he was standing in front of Daphne. He took her shoulders and looked deep into her eyes. "I love you, Daphne Blake."

Daphne felt her mouth go dry as her heartbeat picked up in double time. "I love you too, Fred Jones."

Velma had been right. It was so much better to look him in the eye while she said it.

They kissed, and Daphne felt as though she were floating as Fred took her into his arms. His mouth was soft, yet firm.

"Gross. Get a room, Mom and Dad."

Holden's teasing voice brought them both back to reality, and they watched as he passed by them on his way to the bowl of chips, grinning jokingly at them over his shoulder as he went.

Fred shoved him playfully and everyone chuckled.

"I'm sorry," Fred said to Daphne when Holden had passed. "I didn't realize it was such a big deal to you. Honestly, I thought I'd already said it. That's why I was so casual about it, that day we talked in the dressing room."

Daphne suddenly remembered the conversation. Fred's exact words had been _"I've always had a fear that the people I love will all leave me one day."_

He had told her he loved her right then. And she hadn't even realized it.

She kissed him again. "When did you know?" she asked. "That you loved me?"

Fred shrugged. "I don't think there was ever like, a _moment. _It came upon me kind of suddenly. But I guess I just...forgot to say it officially." He grinned sheepishly. "Sorry about that."

Daphne giggled. "It's okay," she replied. "We can make up for lost time now."

Fred's smile grew wider. "I love you."

"I love you," Daphne replied.

They could keep this up for a while.

x.X.x

"Hey, Scooby!"

Scooby had just finished chomping down some pizza when he heard Leesa call his name. He turned to see her walking towards him.

"Listen," she said, bending down so she was eye-level with him. "I just wanted to say, again, that I'm really sorry about everything that I put you through. You really were a great ASM, and I appreciated you so much."

Scooby considered her for a moment. Sure, she'd lied to them all about the Phantom. He wasn't sure if Fred would ever be able to trust her again after what happened with Daphne. But Scooby was loyal and, like Daphne, he too believed her apology. So he grinned at her.

"Rye rorgive rou," he told her.

Leesa smiled and patted him on his head. "You're a good dog, Scooby Doo," she told him. "Your friends are lucky to have you."

And he was lucky to have them too.

"Rooby Rooby Roo!" he barked.

* * *

**Sponge: WOW I can't believe the second chronicle in the **_**Origins **_**series is finished! The series is halfway over! I'll be back in a week with some important information about the next story in the series. In the meantime, review if you please! Thanks for reading.**


	18. Bonus Content: Sequel Announcement!

**IMPORTANT INFORMATION/UPDATE ABOUT THE SEQUEL**

**Hi everyone! SpongeAddict here! First things first, thank you SO MUCH to every single person who has read and reviewed this story, especially if you added it (or me!) to your favorites. I put so much work into **_**Two For The Show, **_**and I'm super glad that you all enjoyed it so much.**

**Now for the good news! Next week (yes you read that right, NEXT WEEK), I'll be posting the first chapter of the next installment in this series, **_**Three To Get Ready **_**("the threequel" as I've been calling it on Twitter and Tumblr). **_**Three To Get Ready**_** takes place about a year and a half after the end of **_**Two For The Show.**_** This story ended in November of their junior year, but the next story picks up in February of their senior year. Just like this story, it will be seventeen chapters long. Warning: it will be starting with an M rating right off the bat, since it's the darkest in the series so far. That means that I suggest you put me on your author alerts if you haven't already so you can be notified when the first chapter is posted, since it won't show up on the webpage unless you change your filter settings. It also (obviously) means this story will have mature themes including language, peril, some violence, graphic romance, and other more "adult" content. It's not going to be a lemon, but it might get a little lime-y. That being said, PLEASE READ AT YOUR OWN RISK. As always, I'll be sure to put appropriate warnings in the author's note of the chapters.**

**Now for the slightly less good news: I'm sure all you writers can relate to this, but the pandemic and the quarantine have really made my productivity and creativity take a nosedive, so I'm still working hard on completing all the chapters. This means, unfortunately, there will be a bit of a delay between the time I post the first chapter and the second chapter, but since I already have the first chapter ready, I will be posting that next week. I plan to spend the rest of the summer working on the threequel**_**, **_**and if all goes to plan,**** I should be ready to go by August. I'll post the second chapter on Wednesday, August 5th, and then I'll hop right back into updating **_**Three To Get Ready **_**weekly, ****on Wednesdays around 10pm EST.**

**In the meantime, I hope you'll follow me either on Twitter (Sponge_Addict) or Tumblr (SpongeAddict) so you can keep up with everything I'm working on. I hope you guys enjoy **_**Three To Get Ready **_**as much as you enjoyed **_**Two For The Show. **_**See you next week!**


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